Report: Barneys New York Aims to Expand Product Offerings, Distribution

Barneys New York reportedly plans to expand both its product offerings and its distribution if the planned acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group by the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue is completed.

The brand, which closed its U.S. department stores after its 2019 bankruptcy and is now owned by Authentic Brands Group, aims to sell a broader range of products at Saks and Neiman Marcus stores if the acquisition goes through, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 12), citing unnamed sources.

Negotiations are in their early stages and no formal agreements have been reached, according to the report.

Authentic Brands Group did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

Barneys sells only clothing curated from designers and its own branded beauty products at its outposts at Saks, the report said.

Now, it aims to add home goods, sportswear, intimates, outerwear and other items to be sold at both Saks and Neiman Marcus locations, per the report.

The products could also be sold at Barneys’ global stores and at any other luxury outlets available to Saks Global, the new company that would be created by the planned acquisition, according to the report.

Authentic Brands Group, which licenses the trademarks of its properties, also owns the intellectual property of Brooks Brothers, Forever 21 and Eddie Bauer, among others, per the report.

Barneys put itself up for sale and filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2019 after struggling to compete with online brands.

The company had a nearly century-long history and held a reputation for the finest luxury apparel. However, it faced the same market conditions as other retailers and had to deal with a massive rent hike at its headquarters, which sent it searching for a buyer.

Barneys chose Authentic Brands Group as its initial bidder in October 2019.

Saks announced July 3 that it was purchasing Neiman Marcus, with Amazon and Salesforce both taking minority stakes.

With the deal, Saks and Neiman are looking for “the big retail reset” after years of retail more generally, and department stores more specifically, losing their grip on shoppers, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster wrote Thursday (July 11).

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