Saks is back on market

Upmarket Auckland clothing store Saks is back on the market after the company that agreed to buy it went into receivership.

Founder Julian Reynolds has interrupted retirement plans and is back running the store in Newmarket after Lusso Group was placed in receivership on Wednesday.

Lusso, whose sole shareholder is Aaron Marsich, agreed to buy the business in December 2008.

Mason Meltzer Heath receiver Arron Heath said how much was owed was not yet known. "You're talking about a high-end fashion retailer and the effects of the recession have cut across all sectors," he said.

The impact of the recession was hard to quantify as it had hit unevenly.

"A lot of our clients are car dealers and a lot in property, of course, but we do a tremendous amount of business with solicitors, professional people, surgeons and they don't seem to have suffered."

Reynolds has offered himself as a consultant to a buyer.