Saks Fifth Avenue Calls Off Holiday Light Show

A light show that drew thousands of tourists and holiday shoppers each winter — with blinking, swirling, exploding spectacles that seemed to be growing more elaborate every year — is happening no more.Or, at least, not this year.Saks Fifth Avenue has confirmed that it will not offer the popular light show at its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan this holiday season, in what appears to be a move to cut costs.In confirming the decision, a representative for Saks told The New York Post on Monday that it had been a “challenging year for luxury.”The store said in a statement that it instead planned to celebrate the centenary of its flagship store by “honoring the architectural significance of this iconic building, elegantly illuminating the facade and framing the holiday windows.”Along with the department store’s vaunted holiday windows, the light show had for nearly two decades drawn crowds to 611 Fifth Avenue, with many visitors pairing the show with a nighttime stop at the nearby Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.In the statement, a spokeswoman for Saks Fifth Avenue noted that “for some time, we have contemplated changing our approach.” Yet the decision appeared to have been made recently, with a news release from October including a mention of the light display, noting that like the celebrated Saks holiday windows, the display would be “presented by Mastercard.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....