Barneys New York sold; NYC flagship to remain open 1 year
NEW YORK -- It's official. Barneys New York, the iconic luxury chain, has been sold to fashion licensing company Authentic Brands for $271.4 million.
The sale follows approval by a bankruptcy court judge on Thursday. The judge left room for another bidder to come forward, but that never materialized.
Authentic Brands says it's working with Saks Fifth Avenue on a licensing deal. It plans to reboot Barneys New York on Saks Fifth Avenue's fifth floor. Saks will launch Barneys shops in various stores in key markets in the U.S. and Canada. Barneys New York crown jewel - its flagship on Manhattan's Madison Avenue- will turn into a pop-up store.
It's likely that most of the other Barneys stores will close.
The landlord of the flagship, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., released the following statement:
"We are extremely disappointed by the outcome of today's proceedings. We worked tirelessly with potential buyers and operators to preserve Barneys operations at our properties.
The New York and Los Angeles stores produce approximately $20 million and $30 million, respectively, in profitability for Barneys per year--even after the recent rent resets at both locations.
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. Fred's will remain open as well.
We are saddened by the loss of jobs for Barneys employees and the iconic standalone brand."
Barneys New York filed for Chapter 11 protection in August.
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