Household HSBC Watch

ATLANTA — Saks Fifth Avenue has a new blueprint, and chief executive officer Stephen Sadove is ready to build it. Sadove, presiding over his first shareholders meeting since becoming Saks Inc. CEO in January, said here on Wednesday that the retailer will target a core customer who is 45 to 48 years old, seek to boost the performance of regional stores and renovate existing units, build relationships with key vendors and add new designers and more accessible luxury.

Saks’ credit card is backed by HSBC Finance Corporation - formerly predatory lender Household International. “We don’t see a correlation between Sadove’s core customer and anyone who wishes to risk blemished credit by having a Saks card” said consumer advocates. “We will see how Sadove solves the problem inhereted from R. Brad Martin, but for now we will add Sadove to our ‘Who’s Who’ category.”