You know things are bad when the rich stop shopping at the rate they use to.

Last Thursday, Saks Inc. announced it would be letting go 1,100 in-store and corporate support jobs, or 9 percent of its work force. But wait, the luxury department store also has plans to scale back on some of the commitments it had made to those employees who it will maintain, namely eliminating merit-based wage increases and suspending matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans for at least a year.

In addition, Neiman Marcus said it was cutting 375 jobs, or 2.3 percent of its work force to stay afloat in this economic downturn. One has to speculate that the buyers representing these two stores respectively will be even more picky and selective than seasons past.

Hopefully, they'll give the younger designers a chance because, well, how much colder would the world be without Gareth Pugh and Rodarte?

[via NY Times]