New York City’s beloved retailer, Barneys New York, files for bankruptcy

“Like many in our industry, Barneys New York’s financial position has been dramatically impacted through the challenging retail surroundings and lease structures,” the company’s CEO and president, Daniella Vitale, stated in a release
“Trends come and go, but establishments are timeless.” This was once posted to Instagram early this morning via Barneys New York following the news that the retailer had filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection in New York today. According to a release, the financial disaster submitting is phase of a larger restructuring of the employer that consists of $75 million (approx Rs 5.3 billion) in funding to keep operations going as the retailer looks for a buyer. In addition, Barneys will shut 15 of its 22 stores, consisting of Chicago, Las Vegas, and Seattle, and all of its retailers barring Woodbury Commons and Livermore.
“For greater than ninety years, Barneys New York has been an iconic luxury uniqueness retailer, famend for its edit, strong point of view, creativity and representation of the world’s nice designers and brands,” said Daniella Vitale, Barneys’s CEO and president in a release. “Like many in our industry, Barneys New York’s economic function has been dramatically impacted by way of the challenging retail environment and hire structures that are excessively high relative to market demand. In response to these obstacles, the Barneys New York Board and administration crew have taken decisive action by means of entering into a court-supervised process, which will furnish the organisation the critical tools to behavior a sale process, overview our contemporary leases and optimise our operations. While doing that we are receiving new capital to help support the business. Pursuing a sale beneath the court’s supervision affords the quickest and most environment friendly capability of maximising fee whilst ensuring we continue serving each new and loyal customers.”
Since its founding in 1923, Barneys has been a staple of New York life. Its original place on seventeenth Street and Seventh Avenue was once a fashion mecca for the cool hunters of the ’80s and ’90s, when its rails had been the among the first to feature labels like Dries Van Noten and Comme des Garçons. Its Madison Avenue outpost opened in 1993 and presented a comparable stage of arty polish, serving as a launchpad for a quantity of young brands in the early 2000s, together with Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang.
But instances are changing. Shopping is less about milling thru racks in 2019 and extra about sharing screenshots of your brand new cop in your group chat. On the digital front, Barneys operates an editorial site, The Window, and launched a podcast late remaining year, but has failed to maintain up with the buzz of different e-commerce giants.
Barneys’s financial disaster filing doesn’t always imply an cease for the store. In fact, this isn’t the first time Barneys has filed for financial ruin protection. In 1996, the store filed for bankruptcy protection after a spat with Isetan, the Japanese retailer that had before injected $600 million (approx Rs forty two billion) in capital into Barneys. In the years following that filing, Barneys ownership switched palms various times, with the majority of the business enterprise now run via the hedge fund Perry Capital, run with the aid of Richard Perry. As a phase of its contemporary filing, the corporation is investigating a sale but again. Whose arms it will cease up in is doubtful as yet, however here’s to hoping New York doesn’t lose a retail legend.