WeWork to launch co-working spaces at select Saks stores

Hudson’s Bay Co, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, will be converting some of its department store space into WeWork co-working spaces. This comes as more companies are looking for hybrid models of combining remote work with office space, and are taking a different approach from leasing long-term office space.

Five co-working office spaces, named SaksWork, all be opening across the Tri-State area, including the Fifth Avenue Flagship in Manhattan. More spaces are expected to rollout at Saks’ in suburban areas. Some of the HBC’s former Lord & Taylor stores will be converted to SaksWork spaces.

Saks and WeWork see this as a way to help each other after department stores and co-working spaces were hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Saks was hurt by lockdowns, but it’s e-commerce business, which is now a standalone, helped keep them afloat. WeWork was hurt by the shift to work from home, but in March they agreed with a merger with a firm in a 9 billion dollar deal. A poll by Accenture found that 83 percent of Americans favor a hybrid remote work and office model seeing it as the most ideal.