New Delhi, Jan. 3 -- A missed debt payment has intensified Chapter 11 chatter as executive chairman Richard Baker replaces Marc Metrick at the top of the luxury retailer.

Saks Global, the luxury retail conglomerate formed by the $2.7 billion tie-up that brought Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus under one roof, has replaced its chief executive at a moment when the company's survival strategy appears to be narrowing.

Marc Metrick, a nearly three-decade Saks veteran who led the business through the industry's e-commerce acceleration and post-pandemic reset, is stepping down. Richard Baker, the company's executive chairman and a central architect of the consolidation that created Saks Global, will assume the chief executive role.

The mov...