private industry retail founded 1923 founder barney pressman headquarters 575 fifth avenue new york new york number of locations 27 products clothing footwear bedding furniture jewelry beauty products and housewares . owner perry capital divisions barneys warehouse website barneys.com barneys new york is an american chain of luxury department stores founded and headquartered in new york new york . the chain operates 26 flagship boutique and outlet stores in the united states . in addition eleven stores in japan are licensed and operated by a third party . contents 1 history 1.1 pressman family ownership 1.2 1996 bankruptcy 1.3 2000 to present 1.4 perry capital ownership 2 stores 3 barneys new york co op 4 controversies 4.1 use of co op in name 4.2 racial profiling 5 references 6 external links history edit 60th st flagship store pressman family ownership edit the company began in 1923 when barney pressman opened his first store in manhattan with 500 raised by pawning his wife s engagement ring in order to lease a 500 square foot 46 m2 space at seventh avenue and west 17th street in manhattan with 20 ft 6 m of frontage . barney s clothes was stocked with 40 brand name suits and a big sign with a slogan no bunk no junk no imitations . barney s sold clothing at discounted prices by purchasing showroom samples retail overstocks and manufacturers closeouts at auctions and bankruptcy sales . it also offered free alterations and free parking to attract customers . barney pressman claimed to be the first manhattan retailer to use radio and television beginning with calling all men to barney s radio spots in the 1930s that parodied the introduction of the dick tracy show . he sponsored radio programs featuring irish tenors and bands playing jigs to advertise irish woolens . women encased in barrels gave away matchbooks with the store name and address . he also chartered a boat to take 2 000 of his customers from manhattan to coney island . in a 1973 interview with business week fred pressman barney pressman s son became convinced that the discount route definitely was not for us . my father and i have always hated cheap goods ... . i didn t want to sell low end merchandise . now many of those who chose to are verging on bankruptcy . fred pressman s new york times obituary stated with his father s blessing fred pressman slowly transformed the store from a salty discount house that sold roast beef sandwiches in its pub to a purveyor of italian designers with a cafe serving perrier and light salads . he began to discard the types of suits that his father was prone to unearthing at auctions and bankruptcy sales peppering the racks instead with then obscure and top name designers both but continued to offer touches like free alterations that gave barneys its reputation . pressman is quoted saying the best value you can offer a customer is personal attention to every detail and they will return again and again . ultimately the customer cares the most about how he or she is treated . pressman died in july 1996 . 1 in 1970 barney s built a fifth story onto their original building and a five story addition . the original store was renamed america house and the addition was named international house . the expanded store occupied the entire seventh avenue block between 16th and 17th streets with 100 000 square feet 9 300 m2 of selling space and 20 individual shops . international house fred pressman promised would feature complete collections of european designers from denim pants to 250 suits not just a watered down potpourri of fabrics and models . the renovated america house he said would hold merchandise from manufacturers who are in effect designers . by 1973 the store was stocking 60 000 suits . it carried the full lines of designers such as bill blass pierre cardin christian dior and hubert de givenchy . it became the first clothing store in the u.s. to stock the full line of giorgio armani after signing an agreement in 1976 . barneys is widely credited to have introduced giorgio armani to the american public . 1 women s clothing was introduced in 1976 on the third floor of the international house . the next year the women s store relocated to the penthouse a new top level enclosure . barney s also added housewares cosmetics and gift departments to the store . also in 1977 barney s in store restaurant was renamed the cafe and began selling salads soup and sandwiches . the apostrophe in barney s was dropped in 1981 . in 1981 the women s penthouse became a duplex . barneys imported 80 % of the women s and 40 % of the men s merchandise . the 25 million 70 000 square foot 6 500 m2 women s store finally opened in 1986 in a row of six townhouses and two larger adjacent buildings across the store along 17th street . the addition included a unisex beauty salon and restaurant antiques and accessories gifts and housewares departments . it accounted for about one third of barneys sales of some 90 million the following year . in 1988 barneys opened a 10 000 square foot 930 m2 men s store in the world financial center . in 1993 the store abandoned its seventh avenue flagship moving to the current 230 000 square foot 21 000 m2 9 story kohn pederson fox designed manhattan store on madison avenue at east 61st street . it was the largest new store in new york city since the great depression . the store is a 22 story building with 14 floors of offices above the store . the wood floors a marble mosaic on the lobby floor gold leaf ceilings and lacquered walls of the new barneys store cost 267 million according to one source . barney s opened its first store outside of manhattan in chicago illinois in 1993 closely followed by another large store in beverly hills california in 1994 . during this time they also announced a national expansion of 30 smaller stores that range around 6 500 square feet . 2 1996 bankruptcy edit the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 closed most of their boutique stores including locations in dallas and houston costa mesa cleveland short hills and manhasset and sold the department stores in japan and singapore citation needed . 2000 to present edit on december 20 2004 the pressman family sold its less than 2 % remaining ownership to the jones apparel group which in turn sold the company in september 2007 to dubai based private equity firm istithmar pjsc for 937.4 million . 3 included in this purchase is an estimated 500 million in debt . the luxury market took a sharp turn for the worse after istithmar s acquisition of barneys . u.s. sales of high end clothing fragrances and accessories slipped 14 % in 2009 according to bain & co. although luxury was a star performer over the 2010 holiday season spending trends have yet to recover to pre recessionary levels . the privately held company doesn t reveal financial results but said that ebitda rose by 30 million in 2010 . 4 howard socol barneys former ceo resigned shortly after the change in ownership . the company failed to fill the position for over two years until mark lee was appointed in september 2010 . lee is the former chief executive of gucci group and has consulted and sat on the board of many other fashion companies . 5 since lee s appointment barney s has experienced changes in its staff advertising and website . amanda brooks former creative director of hogan replaced long time fashion director julie gilhart . 6 lee s former gucci colleague daniella vitale replaced judy collinson as head merchant . 4 former creative director simon doonan now creative ambassador at large was replaced by dennis freedman . 7 barney s advertisements and catalogs are usually shot in house but for spring 2011 candid shots by art photographers such as william klein nan goldin and juergen teller were taken behind the scenes during new york fashion week . some existing stores will face new renovations such as the in madison avenue location s main floor and co op levels . the traditional red awnings have been changed to black . barneys website has been revamped and has launched a new site called the window which is the retailer s primary social media landing page a window into the barneys world with news about fashion and happenings at barneys stores . 4 8 as of february 2011 barneys no longer sells prada with the exception of shoes and menswear because of disagreements concerning prices and inventory control . prada wanted to lease a space but control its own inventory and markdowns under a concession model . barneys declined . 4 in december 2013 women s wear daily announced that the retailer will be returning the portion of its original seventh avenue site being vacated by bankrupt loehmann s. in january 2014 barneys will use transgender models in advertisement for its 2014 advertisement campaign . 9 in february 2016 barneys new york returned to its original seventh avenue location in chelsea opening a four story flagship store . 10 perry capital ownership edit in may 2012 the majority of it was acquired by perry capital which reduced the company s 590 million debt to 50 million . it will have three seats on the seven member board . the former majority owner istithmar world as well as new investor yucaipa cos will also be on the board as will current ceo mark lee . 11 stores edit barneys new york operates fifteen flagship regional and boutique department stores in the united states . 12 9570 wilshire boulevard beverly hills california 77 o farrell street san francisco california the grove at farmers market los angeles california santa monica place santa monica california the americana at brand glendale california 15 east oak street chicago illinois copley place boston massachusetts shoppes at the palazzo las vegas nevada 660 madison avenue new york new york 101 7th avenue new york new york 2151 broadway new york new york 194 atlantic avenue brooklyn new york 1811 walnut street philadelphia pennsylvania pacific place seattle washington denotes a former co op store fred s restaurants operate inside of the beverly hills madison avenue downtown ny san francisco and chicago locations . 13 the company plans to open a flagship department store at bal harbour shops in bal harbour florida as part of a planned expansion of that shopping center . 14 barneys new york flagship stores in dallas texas at northpark center 15 and in scottsdale arizona at scottsdale fashion square 16 were shuttered in 2013 and 2016 respectively . a freestanding mens store opened in san francisco in february 2016 . 17 eleven outlet stores operate in addition to the company s full line business . five full line barneys stores and six outlet stores operate in japan under a third party licensee . 18 barneys new york co op edit established in 1986 19 the barneys new york co op originally existed as the contemporary department within barneys flagship stores . created to house trendier and less expensive product than the rest of the store the co op was aimed at younger shoppers with smaller budgets than a traditional barneys customer . the co op department was spun off into a separate chain of stores in the 2000s primarily located in shopping malls and lifestyle centers . at its height there were more than 20 co op stores throughout the united states . these stores operated at south coast plaza costa mesa california the americana at brand glendale california the grove at farmers market los angeles