The retailer warned that 137 employees could be laid off when it closes its Short Hills Mall store to open a branch at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford
MILLBURN -- Saks 5th Avenue's move from the tony but aging Short Hills Mall to the retooled American Dream complex planning to open next year in East Rutherford could be a nightmare for 137 employees, after Saks warned they could be laid off in September.
In a notice posted this month by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Saks notified the state that the employees faced possible layoff as of Sept. 10.
Saks, which is owned by the Canadian retail conglomerate, Hudson's Bay Company of Brampton, Ontario, announced last month that it would close its Short Hills store, which for more than two decades has been an anchor of the mall, which is located in Short Hills section of Millburn Township.
A spokeswoman for Saks, Tiffany Bourre, issued a statement reiterating its insistence last month that, despite the Short Hills closing, the company was, "committed to our shoppers in the New Jersey market with our investment in a brand new Saks Fifth Avenue store at American Dream in East Rutherford, NJ."
The company also said it would try to soften the blow for employees disrupted or out of a job because of the move.
"All associates affected by the closing will either be offered transfer opportunities or will receive appropriate employment separation packages," the statement read. "As always, we will make every effort to provide needed assistance to these Associates during this period."
Besides the new Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson's Bay also plans to open a Saks Off 5th discount outlet store at American Dream, in addition to an existing Off 5th at
the Mills at Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth.
"There are no plans to close the Saks OFF 5TH at the Mills," Thursday's statement added.
Saks' plan is to open a 132,000-square-foot store with its own facade and outside entrance as an anchor of the American Dream megamall, which for years has stood vacant at the junction of Routes 3 and 120, adjacent to the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
The developer of American Dream, another Ontario-based company, Triple Five, recently announced that 75 percent of its nearly 3 million square feet of retail space had been leased, and that it stood by its planned opening in 2017 despite recent delays over funding. Tiple Five is now having second thoughts about using the Borough of East Rutherford as the bond-issuing public agency to help finance the mall's $1 billion makeover.
Meanwhile, a forest of construction cranes stand mostly idle above the complex, where for years the shell of a halted indoor ski slope and the multi-hued, checkerboard exterior of the mall have been an all-too familiar site to surrounding communities and motorists on Route 3 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
It remains unclear just when the Short Hills Mall store will close, or whether Saks would cease to be a presence in the northern New Jersey retail market between the time it closes one store and opens the other.
Steve Cabbot, a Philadelphia-based labor relations consultant for management, said the Sept. 10 date on Saks' layoff warning only implies the earliest date by which the layoffs can be imposed, and that Saks can keep those employees on the job beyond that point if it needs them.
Cabbot also said that, generally, employers are under no obligation to relocate workers from a closing location to a new one, although special circumstances such as a labor agreement with a union could require that workers have the option to move with the company.
Right now, he added, "It's all speculation."
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.