weasel: date=February 2008

Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City, headed by Judy Collinson, EVP and GMM of the Women's Division and Tom Kalendarian, EVP and GMM for the Men's Division. The luxury chain is composed of several large stores (dubbed flagships by the company) in New York City, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Boston (average size ) and smaller stores, including those who target younger consumers (average size ).

Merchandise selections come from a variety of designers including Giorgio Armani, Manolo Blahnik, Fendi, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Jil Sander, Dries van Noten, Diane von Furstenberg, and Ermenegildo Zegna, as well as Barneys private label merchandise. Barneys typical look consists of bright red awnings and original window displays . The New York and Beverly Hills stores also have on-site restaurants that are operated by third parties.

The company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 1996, closed stores in Chelsea and several other locations across the US, and sold the department stores in Japan and Singapore Fact: date=August 2008. 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.

Manhattan Store history

The company began in 1923, when Barney Pressman opened his first store in Manhattan with the $500 raised by pawning his wife's engagement ring in order to lease a retail space at Seventh Avenue and West 17th Street in Manhattan, which would become the original Barney's store, with 20 ft (6 m) of frontage and an awning identifying the store as "Barney's Clothes." The store was stocked with 40 brand name suits and a big sign with a slogan, "No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitations." Barney's was able to sell tailored clothing at discounted prices by purchasing showroom samples, retail overstocks, manufacturers' closeouts at auctions and bankruptcy sales. It also offered free alterations and free parking to attract customers. As business grew, eventually three floors above street level, starting in 1934, would be gradually added to the store.

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. Outside of broadcast media, he was more eccentric in promoting his store. Women encased in barrels gave away matchbooks with the store name and address. He even chartered a boat to take 2,000 of his customers from Manhattan to Coney Island.

For decades Barney's was known for cut-rate men's suits. By 1964, the store started to shed its discount image and went upscale. In a 1973 interview to Business Week, Fred Pressman 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."