Saks Global said on Tuesday it plans to close eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus location in the U.S., as it looks to boost its business through a Chapter 11 restructuring.

In a motion filed in Texas bankruptcy court, the luxury retailer asked for leave to quickly shutter the nine locations, conduct store closing sales, and lay off over 600 employees. The closures and liquidation sales, which are projected to last from Feb. 20 through April 30, are part of a larger strategy to go all in on Saks' highest-end business and back away from discount sales, according to the motion.

"The global debtors believe that these targeted store closings will allow the global debtors to better serve their luxury customers, strengthen brand partner relationships and drive full-price selling to enable sustainable, profitable growth," the motion read.

Since Saks Global and related entities filed for bankruptcy in January, the retailer has been looking to close stores for its discount business lines, including most Saks Off 5th stores and all five remaining Neiman Marcus Last Call locations.

The soon-to-be-closing Saks Fifth Avenue stores are located in New Orleans; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Tulsa, Okla.; and elsewhere, while the Neiman Marcus store is in Boston.

Saks Global plans to continue closing Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores, which are part of its core non-discounted business lines, in order to shed locations with low sales or costly leases and focus on "profitable locations with the highest growth potential," the retailer said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Opportunities within the luxury market remain strong, and Saks Global is primed to play a distinct, enduring role within the industry for many years to come," Geoffroy van Raemdonck, the CEO of Saks Global, said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the motion, Saks Global requested approval for $3.5 million in severance for 615 employees at the affected stores, averaging about $5,690 per employee, with the actual sums paid out amounting to "no more than approximately $105,000 for any individual," according to the motion.

The debtor requested that the court waive state and local laws governing liquidation sales. It also asked for a waiver of so-called "fast pay" laws requiring laid-off employees to be paid all money owed to them promptly within a few days of termination, saying its payroll department may be unable to meet certain legal deadlines due to the number of employees being terminated at one time.

Saks Global is also closing most of the locations where it offers personal stylist services as a standalone business in cities without a Saks Fifth Avenue store, saying that business line has become largely redundant since its acquisition of Neiman Marcus. The personal styling business will remain in Indianapolis and Honolulu, and a soon-to-open location in West Palm Beach, Florida, is still projected to open, according to an announcement.

Saks Global is also folding home goods retailer Horchow into the home goods section of Neiman Marcus, according to the press release. It filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 14 with about $3.4 billion in funded debt after struggling to deal with the debt it took on to purchase Neiman Marcus more than a year ago.

Saks Global is represented by Nathaniel G. Ward, Jennifer J. Hardy, Debra M. Sinclair, Robin Spigel, Allyson B. Smith, Betsy L. Feldman, Jessica D. Graber, and Ryan Blaine Bennett of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Kelli Stephenson Norfleet, Kenric D. Kattner, Arsalan Muhammad, Kourtney P. Lyda, and David Trausch of Haynes Boone.

The case is In re: Saks Global Enterprises LLC et al., case number 4:26-bk-90103, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.