Iconic treasure hunt retailer closing all stores in bankruptcy

Finding a bargain at an off-price retailer feels like beating the system.

Having once found a Ralph Lauren suit in a Marshalls priced more than half off its normal selling price, I know that feeling.

That psychological effect can lead to shopping mistakes, according to Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist and professor of psychology and marketing at Golden Gate University.

“What you’re really hunting for is the thrill of a bargain, which is when I think a lot of consumers make mistakes. For people, maybe they don’t even have something in mind, they’re just craving that feeling of being a successful competitive force shopper,” Yarrow said, reported PYMNTS.com. “In other words, they want the thrill of feeling like they scored a big victory.”

University of Auckland Business School Associate Professor Karen Fernandez shared that a lot of this is also wired to evolutionary hunter-gatherer behavior.

“People want novelty. People like the fact they can hunt and find a bargain [that] maybe somebody else hasn’t found,” she told PYMNTS.

Bargain hunters are about to lose one chain that offered high-end luxury goods, while another will shrink dramatically.

Neiman Marcus Last Call closing all stores

As part of its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Saks Global plans to close the five remaining Neiman Marcus Last Call stores and shut down 57 of the 69 Saks OFF 5TH brick-and-mortar locations.

In addition, Saks OFF 5TH Digital has already received court approval to liquidate its inventory, reported TheStreet's Kirk O'Neill.

Saks Global shared the news of the Neiman Marcus Last Call and Saks OFF 5TH brick-and-mortar store closings in a press release.

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"Following a thorough review of its off-price business, Saks Global made the strategic decision to close the majority of Saks OFF 5TH retail locations and the remaining Last Call stores," the company shared.

Closing sales with markdowns will begin in certain Saks Off 5TH stores and all remaining Last Call stores on Saturday, January 31. For the list of locations closing and remaining open, click here.

Neiman Marcus Last Call and Saks OFF 5TH facts:

Saks Global also shared some operating changes for the closing stores.

• Gift Cards: You may no longer purchase new gift cards. Existing gift cards will continue to be accepted through Saturday, February 14. After this period, gift cards will no longer be accepted. 
• Returns/Exchanges: Returns/exchanges for merchandise purchased before the closing sales will be accepted in accordance with the company’s usual policies. All merchandise purchased during the closing sales beginning Saturday, January 31 will be final sale, and no returns or exchanges will be accepted.
• Credit Cards and OFF 5TH Rewards: We continue to accept payments with SaksFirst and InCircle credit cards. New purchases at Saks OFF 5TH and Last Call will not earn rewards, but existing rewards can be redeemed until Sunday, March 1.

Saks OFF 5TH Digital closing

Saks OFF 5TH launched its online platform, SaksOFF5TH.com, in 2013 and spun it off as a separate e-commerce platform, Saks OFF 5TH Digital, in 2021, according to court papers.

Saks OFF 5TH Holdings LLC has won bankruptcy court approval to liquidate its Saks OFF 5TH Digital merchandise as well as furniture, fixtures, and equipment, beginning Jan. 26 and continuing for up to eight weeks, according to bankruptcy documents filed on PacerMonitor.

"Judge Alfredo R. Perez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston signed an interim order on Jan. 23 authorizing Saks OFF 5TH Digital to enter into a consulting agreement with GA Retail Solutions LLC to liquidate the e-commerce platform’s merchandise for a retail base fee of 2% to 2.25% of gross proceeds, with a minimum $250,000 base fee," O'Neill reported.

Shoppers lose luxury discount options

Saks OFF 5TH and Neiman Marcus Last Call sold clearance merchandise from their namesake stores. That's generally a more luxury inventory than what shoppers might find at a Marshalls or TJMaxx.

Shoppers enjoy the thrill of finding a bargain in these off-price chains.

“There’s a physiological response when we feel like we’ve won something, and I think people really look for that and want that...‘Oh, I can get that thrill of winning, of getting something for less,'” Yarrow said. “When you do score something, it feels great, so you have this burst in dopamine, and people want that feeling again, and it causes a lot of shopping errors.”

That rush is exactly what made finding that discounted Ralph Lauren suit feel like a victory at the time, even though the emotional win mattered more than whether the purchase was truly necessary, since I never actually wore the suit.

Enjoying this type of shopping appears to be hardwired into the human brain, according to "The Joy of Shopping: Thrill of the Hunt," a Berkley research report authored by Jane Gu, Cristina Nistor, and Matthew Selove and released in February 2025.

"Throughout human history, whether in romantic pursuits, pirate adventures, or
English fox hunts, people have enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. In these examples,
hunting for treasure provides inherent joy in addition to the joy of possessing the
treasure," they wrote.

Related: 71-year-old firearms and outdoor brand files Chapter 7 bankruptcy