Barneys New York
Founded (1923 - )
Barneys New York was founded by Barney Pressman in Manhattan, New York in 1923. He had pawned his wife's engagement ring in order to lease the store space located on Seven Avenue and West Seventeenth Street, in
Manhattan, New York. The store was named Barney's Clothes. Barney stocked the store with forty name brand suits. He sold clothing at discounted prices by purchasing showroom samples, retail overstocks, and manufacturers’ closeouts at auctions and bankruptcy sales. He also offered free alterations and free parking to attract customers. In 1934, the business grew and floors above street level were added.
Barney Pressman was very savvy with his advertising campaigns. He claimed to be the first Manhattan retailer to use radio and television. To advertise Irish woolens, he sponsored radio programs featuring Irish tenors and bands playing jigs. Women encased in barrels gave away matchbooks with the store's name and address.
Barney Pressman's son, Fred, joined the business in 1946. By 1973 Barneys was carrying full lines of designers such as Bill Blass, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, and Hubert de Givenchy. Barney's was the first U.S. clothing store to stock the full line of Giorgio Armani, with whom it signed an exclusive agreement in 1976. The twice-a-year warehouse sale, a Manhattan event for which prospective customers lined up outside the store, took care of overstocked inventory.
In 1979, the apostrophe in Barney's name was dropped, and about 1981 the company name became Barneys Inc. and the store, Barneys New York. In 1986, Barneys completed construction of a women's store along 17th Street. The new store included a unisex beauty salon and restaurant, antiques, and accessories, gifts, and housewares boutiques.
In 1988, Barneys opened a 10,000-square-foot store for men in lower Manhattan's swank World Financial Center. Soon after, the company announced it would build a national chain of as many as 100 clothing stores, starting with three in Manhasset, New York; Short Hills, New Jersey; and Newton, Massachusetts. Barneys found a financial partner in 1989; Isetan Co., one of Japan's largest retailers.
By 1994, there were indications that Barney's' finances were in serious trouble, due to the aggressive expansion plan they had carried out. Barneys filed for bankruptcy in 1997. It emerged two years later, thanks to two majority investors, Whippoorwill Associates, Inc. and Bay Harbour Management LC.
In 2004, Barneys was sold to the Jones Apparel Group. Today, Barneys operates a dozen full-price stores, located in New York City; Beverly Hills, California, Boston and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Dallas; Seattle; Chicago; Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan; and Singapore; and twelve outlet stores and Barneys Co-ops, which focus on contemporary sportswear, accessories, and premium denim.
