Saks & WeWork tandem in store

Saks Fifth Avenue is teaming up with co-working company WeWork to convert some of its retail space to office space as customers continue to shop more online.

The luxury department store will open the first SaksWorks spaces in September in the New York metro area, including at its flagship store across from Rockefeller Center known for its elaborate Christmas displays.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the companies will set up a shared 10thfloor office space in Saks’ former children’s store.

Other SaksWorks spaces will be in the shuttered men’s store in lower Manhattan and stores in Manhasset on Long Island, Scarsdale in Westchester and Greenwich, Conn., according to the report.

“The pandemic has changed so much about our lives, including how we work and where we live,” SaksWorks President Amy Nelson said in a statement on Tuesday. “I’m thrilled to join SaksWorks in its efforts to serve the millions of Americans who now work remotely from their suburban homes or who find themselves as part-time commuters in this hybrid world.”

The move comes as the pandemic squeezes alreadysuffering brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially in non-residential areas that rely heavily on tourists and office workers.

Saks Fifth Avenue is owned by Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay Co., which owns much of its real-estate holdings, including some buildings where it ran the Lord & Taylor department store brand it sold a couple of years ago.

Some former Lord & Taylor stores will be converted to WeWork-managed spaces, according to the report.

Most of the desks will be on wheels, so layouts can change. The cost to workers will be $299 a month, according to the report.

WeWork will operate the spaces in return for a cut of revenue, but won’t have to pay any rent, the Journal reported.