Saks Fifth Avenue says it will stop selling fur by 2023

Designer clothes retailer Saks Fifth Avenue will stop selling animal fur by the end of fiscal year 2022, the company announced Wednesday.

The elimination applies to both Saks-made fur clothing and from vendor partners both online and in stores, the company said in a statement.

“Across the Saks Fifth Avenue experience, we evaluate a number of factors when making decisions about our assortment, including customer preferences and societal shifts,” Tracy Margolies, Chief Merchandising Officer for Saks, said in a statement. “We recognize that trends constantly evolve, and that the sale of fur remains a significant social issue. As such, eliminating it from our assortment is the right step for us to take at this time.”

Animal rights activists rally in front of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City on March 6, 2021.Lev Radin / Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Saks plans to close all of its fur salons by the end of fiscal year 2021, which is the period ending January 29, 2022. It will phase out the sale of fur products from vendors by the end of fiscal year 2022, which is the period ending January 28, 2023.

Saks Fifth Avenue, which is owned by Hudson’s Bay Company and has 45 locations, plans to close all of its fur salons by the end of fiscal 2021.

The luxury retailer will also work closely with vendor partners to phase out the sale of fur products both online and in stores by the end of fiscal 2022.

Saks will continued to sell faux fur products, as well as sheepskin, lambskin, goatskin, cattle hide, down and leather.

The retailer follows Nordstrom, which said it would stop sale of  fur and exotic animal skin merchandise by  the end of  2021, and Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, which committed to stop selling fur by the end of fiscal year 2020.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals lauded Saks’ decision, saying in a statement that the animal rights group had been protesting the store’s fur business for years.

“May its ‘fur salons’ rest in pieces, for they won’t be missed by today’s shoppers, who no longer find it acceptable to drape themselves in an abused animal’s stolen skin,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.