Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue is a high end retail store with fifty three locations across the United States. The company was started in 1924 by the combination of Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel with the idea in mind of creating a specialty store with an eye on fashionable designs.http://www.saksincorporated.com/aboutus/

The company began to expand from coast to coast in 1926 when Adam Gimbel became president. http://www.saksincorporated.com/aboutus/The fifty three locations currently span across twenty five states from Massachusetts to California. http://www.saksincorporated.com/storelocator/searchresults.asp?divcode=sak

In addition, Saks Fifth Avenue licensed stores are located in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Dubai, U.A.E.; Mexico City, Mexico; and Manama, Bahrain. http://www.saksincorporated.com/ourstores/

Saks Fifth Avenue has made its fair share of appearances on the pop culture radar. Likely the most famous incident took place in 2001 when Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting nearly $5,500 in merchandise from the Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, California.

Ryder was found guilty of grand theft and vandalism but not guilty of second degree burglary when her case went to trial in 2002. She claimed that she was doing "research for a role." She would later be sentenced to three years probation and 480 hours of community service. http://www.usefultrivia.com/celebrity_trivia/celebrity_trivia_003a.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_8001/is_2002_Nov_7/ai_n36773397/?tag=content;col1

In the movie Shrek 2, the store was parodied as "Saxon Fifth Avenue." It also is mentioned as the favorite store of Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone in the movie Clueless and is the store that Claire Danes sells gloves at in the adaptation of Steve Martin's novella Shopgirl.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298148/triviahttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338427/

The store is a big draw among the celebrity crowd as well for its merchandise and staff. Rihanna was spotted Christmas shopping at the Beverly Hills location last December. In addition, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courteney Cox and Rita Wilson attended the Saks Fifth Avenue’s Unforgettable Evening Benefiting Entertainment Industry Foundation’s (EIF) Womens’s Cancer Research Fund held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Los Angeles. http://gossiponthis.com/2009/12/23/spotted-rihanna-christmas-shopping-at-saks-fifth-avenue-in-beverly-hills/http://www.nt2099.com/J-ENT/news/gallery/gwyneth-paltrow-courteney-cox-and-rita-wilson-at-saks-fifth-avenues-unforgettable-evening-benefiting-entertainment-industry-foundations-eif-womenss-cancer-research-fund/