Barneys Bidding Starts, and It’s a Bet on the Future of Shopping

When the Pressman family sold the store it was the first nail in the style coffin. Now, Mr. Porter, etc, is the last.

The Barneys bankruptcy story is not just about macro economics and the overall challenges of brick and mortar in this digital age; it’s also about simple mismanagement. The Barneys bankruptcy is equally about incompetence, inability to attract and retain talent, and inability to define its core customer. Barneys was largely dependent on contractors to implement and operationalize their business; contractors which were habitually paid late by months if not full quarters behind schedule. The organization was rife with VPs, Sr. Directors, and executives and yet no one to do the actual work. Chaos is an accurate description of day-to-day operations. Why Sam Ben-Avraham believes in retaining Barneys’ current management is beyond me.

I never knew they even had sales staff. Maybe they summed me up when I walked in the door and hid.

It is sad to read about what is happening to Barney's. It was my favorite store to buy my clothes including ties when it was located around 17th street. I remember the basement and about five floors consisting of different styles. I still have a closet with suits and Barney's label and ties that I have not worn in years. Barneys's had me looking very sharp during my youthful days living in New York. Hopefully, things will improve for owners.

"....a cautionary tale of retail hubris." That isn't the half of it. I went into the store once when it was on 17th St. If the saleswoman who waited on me had her nose any higher in the air, it would have touched the ceiling.

Along with other comments, I was one of those who, as a boy, was taken to the 17th Street store (and their occasional warehouse sales). Once they decided to go upscale, I realized that this was the fashion iteration of gentrification. But there were already other upscale clothing stores so I doubted that Barney's could compete. I predicted that Barney's would meet its end, simply because its owners wanted higher profits over any utility the store could provide to consumers.

In the 60’s and 70’s, Barney’s, along with the Male Shop on Ralph Avenue in Brooklyn, were the places to buy suits for first job interviews that shone like the hot summer sun off of metal. Then overnight, Barney’s morphed into a Saks Fifth Avenue wannabe, losing a bevy of customers in the process.

"Sak's involvement would add a gloss of cutting edge luxury ..." Is that supposed to be a joke? Saks has never been cutting edge and they lost their luxury cred in 2008 when they marked everything down 75% to keep afloat.

Barneys is a legendary brand and retailer and will regroup. A fresh balance sheet and leadership from the team that built Kith will without question put it back on course. Shaking off the terrible lease agreements is key and largely responsible for pulling too much cash out of the business. The leases were predatory and classic NYC landlord tactic threatening a brand with losing its original flagship location and they shouldn't have been signed in the first place. The co-op program, the 17th street store, the expansion - all of these decisions were based on what used to be and they are all simply non viable today. However, as a brand DNA, core NYC flagship coupled with fresh vision for today's reality, they will become was made them cool and relevant once again (and faster than people would believe). Perhaps it will be an NYC twist on Colette. It has nothing to do with what is actually sold inside the store - it's tapping into the pulse of what inspires people to come in and have a retail experience and they will reward with transactions. Those that count "Barneys" out knowing who is interested in taking it over simply have no idea how or why or what works today. Trimmed down and focused it will take all the cool points (and consumers) right onto the balance sheet.

Another company that stopped doing what they had been doing that made them successful. As a kid growing up in NYC I remember the Barney's ads on WCBS News Radio 88; always focused on price and value. I still remember the first time I went to the 17th street store around 1972. My mother and I took the IRT to 14th street. Union Square gave me the creeps. Barney's was chaotic and lit by florescent light. The sales people spoke a very New York dialect. I asked my goyum mother what "kvell" meant. She said I think he said "swell." In 1984 my then girlfriend dragged me there to buy a Zegna tuxedo. I would not say I got a bargain on that purchase. In fact the place was quite expensive and upscale. Over the years Barney's was no longer on the list of places I would go shopping for clothes. It was cold, monochrome and the staff was aloof. There is no shortage of other places to shop in NYC. I figure Barney Pressman would have said of the last few iterations of Barney's "management was meshuganeh!"

No mention of a WeWork bid? What has the world come to???

I remember Barney's before they opened that white elephant of a store in Madison. That store is a symbol of when the store rebranded and lost touch with a lot of the then current customers and potential new customers. There was a point in time when Barney had pricepoints which were more accessible to more people like their own Basco and Co/Op private labels. If the store in whatever form it takes survives, it needs to return to a format that appeals to more people. Real merchants and fashion people need to acquire the store and invigorate it and not run it into the ground like real estate and hedge funds often do when they take over.

My first suit. Mid 1960’s. The store on 17th Street. Then I became irrelevant to them as a customer, though I would go there on occasion as if visiting a gallery in order to see what the ‘relevant ‘ customers were wearing.

A Barneys liquidation sale? Some people will think they have died and gone to heaven!

This is sad news.

Depending on the terms the CEO & CFO will be compensated handsomely. How is that possible? Due to mismanagement at the executive level the company is thisclose to being liquidated or sold for a song. Shame on the board & executives for not seeing a reflection when they look in the mirror.