Winter Holiday Countdown: T is for Twenty Years Later Barneys to Take Back Chelsea

By: Tamara Arnew 

BARNEYS NEW YORK, FORMER CHELSEA STORE
PHOTO CREDIT: FASHIONISTA.COM

Although not-posed to open until 2017, Barneys divulged that the department store will return to the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan where they have garnered historic and sentimental space.  The Seventh Avenue store location is currently retailed-in by Loehmanns but from 1923 to 1997 was the flagship for Barneys New York. 

BARNEYS CHELSEA LOCATION IN 1997
PHOTO CREDIT: THE NEW YORK TIMES 

In Chelsea, over the seventy-four years prior to moving the department store to occupy the Soho and Upper West Side locations, Barney Pressman developed the luxe business from a rented 500-square-foot space with a "no imitations and personal attention to every detail" philosophy. The success of this location eventually came to encompass the entire block (and ten stories up) between 16th and 17th Avenue until it's closure. The Rubin Museum of Art, that shares the space with Loehmanns, will remain in the location as Barneys recaptures former, future and fortune. 

With it's New York "Bright Lights, Big City" synonymy and the appeal of shopping curator splendor in the nostalgic building, the opening in 2017 will signify twenty-years since the department store's departure and a new age of choice extravagance.    

BARNEYS HOLIDAY 2013 WINDOW INSTALLMENT
PHOTO CREDIT: AZURE MAGAZINE 

Since Barneys is known for their experimental and dimensional window displays, including their Winter 2013 seasonal installment in collaboration with Jay-Z, here is an overview of some of the current New York City Holiday Window Displays from preeminent fashion retailers. The list includes the four B's (that being Bendels, Bergdorfs, Barneys and Bloomingdales), as well as several other laureate storefronts. For something a bit closer to home, Holt Renfrew's Bloor Street Location hosts a holiday vignette worth visiting. 

Sources: New York Journey, The Real Deal Magazine, NYC The Official Guide, The New York Times, The WallStreet Journal, Fashionista.Com, Marketing Magazine, Azure Magazine