New York City — Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, has completed its new downtown flagship. The opening in Chelsea on 7th Avenue between 16th Street and 17th Street marks the return of the store to the same block that the company was founded on in 1923, and where it maintained an iconic presence through the late 1990s. The store will occupy almost an entire city block giving a new presence to the 7th Avenue streetscape.
Designed by award-winning New York-based architectural firm Steven Harris Architects, the new 55,000-square-foot flagship, spanning five floors, will include men’s and women’s RTW, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, a Blind Barber barbershop, and a Freds restaurant.
While Barneys New York returns to its original roots, the architecture, technology, services and overall experience reflect the ever-evolving modern store it has become today. State-of-the-art technology and mobile applications will enhance the selling experience.
“The opening of our new Downtown flagship is a unique homecoming for Barneys New York,” says Mark Lee, CEO of Barneys New York. “Born as a single brick-and-mortar location over 90 years ago, Barneys New York returns to the same New York City block as a modern 21st century retail force that will offer the downtown customer a unique and unprecedented customer experience.”
The thriving Madison Avenue flagship will maintain its presence as the largest Barneys New York store and, coupled with the smaller neighborhood stores in Brooklyn and the Upper West Side, further pays homage to the deep-routed relationship between Barneys and New York City.
The new downtown flagship store design continues the partnership with Steven Harris Architects that began in early 2012 with renovations at the Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills locations. Under the direction of founding architect Steven Harris and designer Lucien Rees Roberts, the Barneys New York flagships serve as a unique example of retail design for the residential visionaries. Lalire March Architects serve as the executive architect on the project.
“The store is completely unique compared to any other store downtown. It is subtle but inordinately luxurious,” says Steven Harris. “We wanted to create a calm and tranquil environment with a neutral, but richly varied color palate that truly highlights the merchandise.”
The exterior of the Downtown flagship store is defined by the 170-foot stainless steel marquee running along the 7th Avenue façade and wrapping the corner of 16th Street. The striking storefront provides ample space for Barneys’ world-renowned window displays, with two feature windows on 7th Avenue, and three additional windows providing views into the store.
A central atrium with a spiral staircase provides views of the adjoining floors. The vast sculptural stair connects the lower Foundation level to the third floor, and serves as an ode to the store design of the original Barneys. The atrium features glass with a custom abstract design of mirrored vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines inspired by Agnes Martin and Fred Sandback.
A 36-foot site-specific mural by Los Angeles-based painter Conor Thompson serves as a unique design focal point in the third-floor Freds restaurant. In the vibrant panoramic oil painting, Thompson merges figurative and abstract elements into motifs of the dinner table and painter’s palette. Upon entry, there is a 30-foot onyx marble bar and a custom faceted mirror on one side, with lounge seating on the opposite side. A more formal dining area can be found around the corner from the bar into the L-shaped restaurant. The décor, similar to Freds in Beverly Hills, will feature marble tables, terrazzo floors and rosewood paneling.
To further elevate the shopping experience in the downtown flagship, Barneys is using state-of-the-art technology to integrate digital aspects into the brick-and-mortar store. Barneys is the first luxury retailer to launch iBeacon technology as a way to share rich multimedia content like videos, look books and designer interviews to inform and entertain the customer. Beacons throughout the store have the ability to deliver to a customer’s mobile device to send personalized recommendations of content from The Window, Barneys’ luxury editorial site, to users who choose to opt-in for this experience.
Barneys also built a custom clienteleing system, which uses customer-centric personalization that connects online and offline behaviors and preferences so that sales associates may better serve their clients. The clienteleing app is available on associates’ iPads, which are also used as mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) devices with Apple Pay.
“The customer experience in this store runs parallel in importance to the design, product and historic location,” says Daniella Vitale, COO of Barneys New York. “We want the customer to feel as though anything is possible when they walk into the store. With the seamless integration of technology, our incredible staff and a deep appreciation of our customer, we really do feel that everything is possible.”
Founded as a men’s retailer in 1923 in downtown Manhattan, BARNEYS NEW YORK (Barneys) became an international arbiter of high style for both women and men in the 1970s, renowned for discovering and developing new and innovative design talent. Today, Barneys New York operates flagship stores uptown on Madison Avenue and downtown in Chelsea in New York City, as well as additional flagships in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco and Las Vegas, along with a luxury online store, Barneys.com, as well as 18 other stores and outlets across the United States.
SOURCE: Barneys New York