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'Barneys New York' is a chain of upscale department stores. The company began in 1923, when Barney Pressman opened his first store in Manhattan with money he raised by pawning his wife's engagement ring. Even after filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 1996, closing in Chelsea and several locations across the US and selling locations in Japan and Singapore, Barneys has maintained its ability to attract both Upper East Side old guard and downtown's fashion elite. Barneys industrial style Co-op department and stand-alone stores feature edgy, funkier styles and accessories for men and women. Barneys is easily recognized by its brilliant red awnings and imaginative window displays. In late 2004 the Pressman family sold off its less than 2% remaining ownership when the company was sold to Jones Apparel Group.
The Financial Times reported on September 2, 2006 that Barneys New York will open its first company-operated European location in West London.^[1] The store will be an anchor in Westfield London, which is currently being developed by Australian company, Westfield Group. The location has not been formally announced by Jones Apparel Group or Westfield.

Contents

$1 Billion Takeover bid

Barneys CO-OP

Store locations

Pop culture references

References

External links

$1 Billion Takeover bid

Dubai-based investment firm Istithmar is to acquire Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, from Jones Apparel Group Inc. for $825 million (Dh3.03 billion). This has been raised to $942.3 million.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.
Barneys New York , currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Jones Apparel Group, Inc., is a luxury retailer with flagship stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Boston and Dallas.
Barneys also operates two regional full-price stores, 14 CO-OP Barneys New York stores, and thirteen outlet stores, and also holds two semi-annual warehouse sale events.
“We are excited to acquire Barneys New York. We believe that the luxury market generally and the Barneys platform specifically have incredible growth prospects,” said Khaled Al Kamda, Vice Chairman of Istithmar World.
Elaborating on the transaction, Istithmar’s Chief Executive Officer, David Jackson, commented: “This investment will further our continued focus on the retail sector. We believe that we will be able to accelerate the growth of Barneys’ business by leveraging our experience in the sector and other investments worldwide.”
Howard Socol, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barneys, stated: “We are extremely pleased by this new development. The execution of our growth strategy over the past few years and the hard work and dedication of our talented employees has increased the value of our company and made Barneys attractive to Istithmar. This transaction further enhances our ability to develop our brand and grow our business.”
Socol continued, “Working with Istithmar, we look forward to continued expansion of our flagship, CO-OP and outlet concepts to help us realize the considerable untapped potential of the Barneys brand.”

Barneys CO-OP

Barneys CO-OP offers casual apparel and accessories for a younger market in a trendy environment that breaks from the flagship store's refined, upscale atmosphere. CO-OP originally began as a department within the larger Barneys New York stores, but is now a freestanding concept located in several markets throughout the US. CO-OP stores concept range in size from 9,000 to 20,000 square feet (800 to 2000 m²).

Store locations

Barneys New York currently has stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Dallas and Chicago.[1] Flagship stores are also slated to open in San Francisco (fall 2007), Scottsdale (2009), Las Vegas (fall 2007), and Syosset, New York (date TBD).
The company also operates two smaller regional locations in Chestnut Hill (Massachusetts) and Seattle, Washington
Barneys also has three locations in Japan in the Ginza disctrict of Tokyo, the Shinjuku district of Tokyo and the city of Yokohama. These stores are operated under license by the Sumitomo Corporation. Michael Celestino (BNY Sr VP) has denied rumors of upcoming stores in Europe.
Barneys Co-Ops are located in Costa Mesa (California), Los Angeles, Miami Beach, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Chevy Chase (Maryland), Troy (Detroit, Michigan), New York City (three locations), White Plains (New York), Houston, Austin, and Washington, D.C. with five new locations opening in Westport (fall 2007), Troy (fall 2007), Saratoga (spring 2008), Philadelphia (2008), and in Bergen County, New Jersey at The Shops at Riverside
Barneys outlets are located in Florida, California, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas and Hawaii.

Pop culture references

★ In the HBO program ''Sex and the City'', the central character, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), haunted the New York City flagship with near-obsessive regularity.

★ References in the NYC-set sitcom ''Will & Grace'' are a recurring theme of the show. In one episode all protagonists end up at Barneys on sale day. In three episodes, Barneys was featured as the place where character Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) worked. In two of those episodes, Parker Posey played his boss, Dorleen. In the third, Jack gets hit in the head at work, and, in a dream sequence, Cher gives him career advice.

★ In an episode of ''Seinfeld'' entitled "The Secretary," character Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) goes to Barneys to return a dress which did not look as good on her outside the store as it did on her in the store. During her return she tries on another dress, but is not sure if the dress really looks good on her or not and accuses the store of using "skinny mirrors." In order to get an unbiased reflection, she walks out of the store wearing the dress. Later, she is forced to buy the dress because she gets salt stains on it from walking in the snow.

★ In the HBO series ''Entourage'', character Turtle buys an $1000+ pajama outfit to wear to a party at the Playboy Mansion. Although he intends to return it after the party, Turtle ruins the outfit by colliding into a body-painted model and is unable to take it back to the store.

★ The Beverly Hills flagship was featured in the 1997 film ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'', in a scene where Lisa Kudrow mounts the store's impressive four-story staircase.

★ Barneys New York is referenced in the 2004 animated film ''Shrek 2''.

★ In the Shopaholic Series books by author Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic Takes Manhattan and Shopaholic Ties The Knot), the heroine of the books gets a job as a personal shopper at Barneys New York.

★ In the Gossip Girl Novel books by Cecily von Ziegesar, many of the characters are known to shop at Barneys New York and many scenes are set there as well. In the novels, the character Serena van der Woodsen recently landed the lead role of Holly Golightly (originally played by Blair's role model Audrey Hepburn) in Ken Mogul's remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's, entitled "Breakfast At Fred's." Fred's is the restaurant located on the top floor of Barney's.

★ Barneys New York is referenced in the Adam Sandler Film, "Big Daddy". After Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) receives much criticism from peers on his parenting skills. Sonny takes his 5 year old roommate to Barneys New York for matching white suits.

References

1. Barneys to open first London store Jim Pickard

External links

★ Jones Apparel Group official website

★ Barneys New York official website

★ Barneys CO-OP official website

★ Barneys New York & Barneys CO-OP Flagship Stores

★ Reviews of Barneys in Beverly Hills