Barneys New York contradicts downsizing rumors

Despite rumors of plans to reducing the size of its Madison Avenue flagship, originally published in the New York Post, Barneys New York has said that it currently has no plans to change its store.

The original rumor was that the luxury department store was considering giving up half of the space in its 230,000 square-foot flagship to save on rent as the rent had doubled to 30 million dollars per year in January.

With the closure of Lord & Taylor's Fifth Avenue flagship earlier this year, news of Barneys planning to downsize sounds quite believable. However, the department store shared a statement this week refuting the rumors.

“Barneys New York is committed to maintaining the footprint of its Madison Avenue flagship, and continuing to serve its customers within this iconic store,” a spokesperson said. “There are no active conversations regarding the store’s footprint, and all statements indicating otherwise are false.”