(FORTUNE Magazine) – Not every department store chain needs to be marked down before it can be sold. BAT Industries sold Saks Fifth Avenue for $1.5 billion and Marshall Field for $1.04 billion within a week of each other. Both price tags were significantly higher than expected. Says Arthur C. Martinez, senior vice president of BAT's U.S. retailing operations: ''There's an awful lot of talk about distress in the retail industry. Distressed prices are for distressed properties.'' Says Harry Bernard, a San Francisco retailing consultant: ''In this industry, you are either quick or you are dead.'' Bernard nominates Dayton Hudson of Minneapolis, which bought Marshall Field, as quick. Dayton Hudson CEO Kenneth A. Macke points to Marshall Field's snug fit with Dayton's in Minneapolis and Hudson's in Detroit. Says he: ''This is a puzzle that comes together perfectly.'' Bahrain's Investcorp, which owns 50% of Gucci, among other holdings, bought Saks. The tag for Bloomingdale's, part of Robert Campeau's troubled U.S. operations, meanwhile: a reported $1 billion.