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If there’s one thing devoted shoppers of a hallowed retail chain fear more than a store closing its doors it is a big corporate buyout.
Perhaps you will recall how, in 1999, Vermonters railed against Unilever’s plans to buy Ben & Jerry’s, culminating in the grassroots campaign "Save Ben & Jerry's." Or how Kiehl’s devotees treated the brand’s 2000 acquisition by L’Oréal as something akin to a wake. So what should shoppers make of today’s news that Saks Fifth Avenue, a New York retail institution since 1924, will become part of Hudson’s Bay, the grizzly of Canadian retail, which also owns Lord & Taylor? Are the days numbered for those famous Fifth Avenue holiday windows? Will Crocs take the place of those $500 suede Gucci loafers?
Truth be told, probably not.
According to NPD retail analyst Marshal Cohen, the $2.9
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