Saks Fulfillment Center Will Take Place of Borders

Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in New York City (image couresty Saks)

New York-based luxury retail chain Saks Incorporated announced Monday it will open a distribution and fulfillment center in LaVergne later this year. The company is taking over the building recently vacated by the troubled Borders Group.

Just half a year after the troubled bookstore chain shut down in Rutherford County, Saks comes behind with nearly as many jobs. When running at full capacity, Saks says it will employ 250 people.

LaVergne Mayor Senna Mosley says these days she jumps up and down for just 20 or 30 jobs.

“So at 250, that means 250 families are going to get back on their feet, so nothing small about this.”

By square feet, this would be the largest of Saks’ three distribution centers. The others are in Maryland and California. The company operates 46 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, though none is in Tennessee. It also has 60 Off Fifth discount stores.

Local officials say they offered no incentives to attract the distribution center.

Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess says it’s the rare these days when a company isn’t shopping for tax breaks.

“That would probably be the best of all worlds if we can get people to come here without incentives, of course.”

Saks would be eligible for some state-level tax credits for jobs or grants for job training and infrastructure. But Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty says the state’s central location and transportation infrastructure acted as its competitive advantage.