Barneys could be saved by Authentic Brands-Saks Fifth Avenue deal

Luxury US department store Barneys is reportedly nearing a roughly 270 million dollar deal to be sold to licensing firm Authentic Brands Group (ABG), according to sources close to the matter.

The deal, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, would see ABG license the brand to Hudson’s Bay Co, the owner of department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks would then be able to open Barneys shops in some of its stores, sources told The New York Post. The deal could reportedly lead to three Barneys stores being saved - in Beverly Hills, Boston, and its Madison Avenue flagship in Midtown Manhattan.

If the deal goes ahead to save the Madison Avenue flagship, Barneys might have to give up as many as six of its 10 floors, the source said. The size of these mini-stores could reportedly be between 10,000 and 50,000-square-feet.

Barneys, which currently has seven physical retail locations remaining, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in August, citing increasing rents as one of the factors. The iconic department store secured approximately 218 million dollars in new financing from Brigade Capital Management, LP and B. Riley Financial, Inc. to facilitate the company’s going concern sale process.

As part of the restructuring, Barneys announced it would be closing its physical store locations in Chicago, Las Vegas and Seattle, in addition to five smaller concept stores and seven Barneys Warehouse locations.

Photo: Barneys New York. Photo credits: PhillipPessar, Flickr