Saks CEO sees opportunity in Westbury

Saks Inc. sees potential in its Off 5th outlet in Westbury, which could lead to store improvements, the retailer's top executive said.

Saks operates three Off 5th stores on Long Island and a Saks Fifth Avenue department store at the Walt Whitman Mall in South Huntington.

Another department store, on Franklin Avenue in Garden City, was closed in 2005 after more than 40 years in operation.

"I think there is an opportunity in our Westbury store," Saks chief executive Stephen Sadove told Newsday on Friday. "I think you have good growth opportunities there," he said, referring to the Off 5th in The Source mall.

Sadove said recent renovations to the Off 5th at the Tanger Factory Outlet Center in Riverhead had generated higher sales.

Asked if the upscale chain was considering another department store for Long Island, he said, "Whether we open another full-line store, I don't know. We'll see."

Sadove told a meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in Manhattan on Friday that Saks doesn't plan to open many more stores.

The retailer has shuttered seven department stores in recent years, and probably "a few more" closures are in the offing, Sadove said.