Retail

Barneys store liquidation sales to begin as soon as bankruptcy deal closes, private sales start next week

Key Points
  • Store liquidation sales at Barneys New York will begin soon, according to a release issued Friday.
  • Private sales will begin next week for Barneys' "most loyal" customers, the Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group said. Store closing sales will soon begin at five flagship Barneys New York stores and Barneys Warehouse locations.
  • A bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Barneys brands and other intellectual property to Authentic Brands on Thursday and the deal closed on Friday, Authentic Brands said.
  • Barneys New York's flagship Madison Avenue outlet in Manhattan will remain open for at least another year in a slimmed-down form.
A Barney's store stands in lower Manhattan on August 06, 2019 in New York City. Barneys, one of America's most exclusive clothing stores, has filed for bankruptcy.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Store liquidation sales at Barneys New York will begin soon, according to a release issued Friday.

Private sales will begin next week for Barneys' "most loyal" customers, the Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group said. Store closing sales will soon begin at five flagship Barneys New York stores and Barneys Warehouse locations.

The release did not specify when store closing sales would begin.

Locations for Barneys New York store closing sales:

Barneys New York flagship locations include:
• Madison Avenue at 660 Madison Avenue in New York, NY
• Downtown New York at 101 Seventh Avenue in the Chelsea district of Manhattan
• Beverly Hills at 9570 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA
• San Francisco at 77 O'Farrell Street in downtown Union Square
• and Copley Place at 100 Huntington Avenue in Back Bay Boston

Sales will also happen at Barneys Warehouse stores located at Woodbury Common (240 Hudson Valley District, Central Valley, NY) and San Francisco Premium Outlets (2626 Livermore Outlets Drive, Livermore, CA).

The release said the firms will work to "quickly sell through all inventory during the upcoming holiday season." Sales will also be offered online.

It was also announced Friday that the store's flagship Madison Avenue outlet in Manhattan will remain open for at least another year in a slimmed-down form while the buyer of the luxury retailer's brands negotiates with the store's landlord.

A bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Barneys brands and other intellectual property to Authentic Brands, a firm that acquires and licenses brands, on Thursday. The deal closed on Friday, Authentic Brands said.

The store's well-known eatery, Fred's, will also remain open.

LVMH bid to buy Tiffany: Who knew what and when?
VIDEO2:0302:03
LVMH bid to buy Tiffany: Who knew what and when?

"We have come to terms with Authentic Brands Group, Barneys new owner, to keep the Madison Avenue store open in a smaller footprint for the next 12 months while we continue to explore longer-term solutions," Daniel Levy, president of real estate investment firm Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp, the store's landlord, said in a statement on Friday.

Levy said the New York store generates about $20 million in annual profitability for Barneys, even with a recent rise in rent.

A cultural touchstone for generations of New Yorkers and followers of fashion, Barneys filed for bankruptcy protection in August, citing rent hikes as a factor.

Authentic Brands, which bid roughly $271 million for Barneys, said it will turn the Madison Avenue location into a pop-up store.

The firm plans to license the Barneys brand to Hudson's Bay co-owned Saks Fifth Avenue and will open shops in Saks locations across the United States and Canada.

That will start with an attempted Barneys reboot on the fifth floor of the Saks Fifth Avenue location in Manhattan. Remaining Barneys stores are expected to close.

"Over the past several months, we have worked diligently with the court, our lenders and creditors to maximize the value of the Barneys assets and we're pleased to have reached the conclusion of this process," Barneys said in a statement.

Reuters contributed to this story.