”Yes, yes, I know it`s just a great big hole in the ground,” says Gene Pressman when asked if he`s been on the corner of Oak and Rush Streets lately, the spot where his family`s four-floor Barneys New York store is slated to open before Labor Day.
Labor Day of this year, that is.
”I was just there,” he continues, speaking by phone from his New York office, ”and I had a conversation with my construction people and they said, `Don`t worry, it`s going to go very fast now.”`
And what did you say?
”I said, `OK. Whatever you say,` ” he answers in an easy singsong, with not a trace of concern in his voice. ”Y`know, we`ve opened 13 stores in two years and they haven`t had one that was late,” reports the Pressman brother whose reputation for being laid-back equals that of being one of the most innovative fashion merchandisers in New York City.
Pressman, 41, and his brother, Robert, 37, are third-generation retailers whose grandfather, Barney Pressman, pawned his wife`s engagement ring (it was her idea) to raise $500 to pay the rent and buy stock for a store in New York in 1923. Today, the brothers (and their wives) and their father and mother and two sisters are all involved in a multimillion-dollar international retailing business that will bring their name and know-how, their distinctive advertising and their celebrity-inspired windows to Chicago this fall.
Oh, the suspense
And, not since Bloomingdale`s opened on North Michigan Avenue in the autumn of `88 has there been the same sense of anticipation and curiosity about a store.
But to hear Gene Pressman tell it, Barneys New York is not just a store.
”I don`t mean to be patting us on the shoulder here,” he says, ”but I have to say that we`re the most unique retail store in the world. I didn`t say `best,` I said `most unique,` ” he clarifies. ”Nobody takes as much time and effort to give clients the kind of quality that we do. And the taste level is commensurate. Barneys has a personality, which is something lacking in today`s marketplace.”
Referring to the Barneys flagship store on 17th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan (far from the prestigious upper 5th Avenue shopping arena), he describes the store`s personality as ”a mixture of European and American. Because we`re from downtown, it`s not pretentious. It`s a younger atmosphere, but quite-no, make that very-sophisticated and extremely modern.
”Actually, we`re a paradox. We`re known for bringing new designers to this country but, at the same time, we`re known for being relatively classic, too. Not traditional,” he emphasizes. ”Traditional means stodgy.” Dirty word, obviously. ”Our kind of classic means respect for the greatest. Like, we think we have the greatest white shirt, the greatest leather jacket, the greatest overcoat, the greatest pair of pumps. Doesn`t make a difference if it`s designer or not, but it`s got to be great.”
Summing up, he claims, ”We`re just an incredibly fun, sensible shopping experience.”
Secret ingredients
What is it that makes Barneys New York store more than just an offbeat neighborhood emporium? What attracts other retailers from around the country and what makes uptown New Yorkers travel downtown when they have easier access to tons of other specialty stores?
There`s an appealing atmosphere that lies somewhere between the sometimes haughty and/or intimidating aura of a Bergdorf Goodman and the glitz and glamor, razzmatazz, perfume-spritzing milieu of a Bloomingdale`s. Sales personnel are friendly, but don`t attack. There`s a spareness in displays and uncrowded merchandise, a sense that the surroundings and the wares are hip without being outlandish.
Although Pressman says ”it`s really hard to articulate at this point”
how the Barneys image will translate to the new Chicago Barneys and what it will be like, he does offer some specifics:
– There`ll be three selling floors and a basement, adding up to a store of about 50,000 square feet.
– Approximately 55 percent of the clothing and accessories will be women`s, 45 percent men. (Other Barneys branches have a 65-35 women`s-men`s ratio.)
– There will be a Chelsea Passage, the department known for its highly unusual home accessories, gifts and antiques.
– It will have the same sort of gracious spiral staircase, ringed by designer boutique-like areas, that the New York women`s store has. ”The environment will be interesting.”
– Its windows, which may very well be localized, will have the same brand of wit and bite as the New York Barneys, windows that have stopped traffic and rated national publicity (caricature mannequins of star types like Madonna;
Bette Midler as a dancing Christmas tree wearing gold pumps and Tammy Faye Baker with a mascara brush yule tree; Sen. Ted Kennedy at an office party;
Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld in a totally quilted room, including fireplace, reflecting the Chanel tendency toward quilting).
– And, finally, says Pressman, the Chicago Barneys will have ”an eclectic mix of merchandise, a potpourri of products.”
Still under wraps
For example?
Well, there`s a lot he doesn`t want to talk about just yet, ”for competitive reasons,” says Pressman. ”Chicago already has an incredible number of department stores. You don`t need another department store. And there are some excellent specialty stores like Ultimo and Bigsby`s (Bigsby & Kruthers). What we will do is bring things that we feel strongly about or that aren`t already in Chicago. And, no, I won`t tell you what those things are because then they will be there before we get there,” he adds, referring to all retailers` well-known penchant for snooping out other stores`
resources.
He does say that there will be special boutiques for both Donna Karan`s men`s and women`s clothes (Barneys has the nationwide exclusive on the men`s collection through this spring), as well as for Calvin Klein`s men`s and women`s clothes. And, that ”we intend to make a statement in menswear in Chicago.”
Barneys, which originated as a men`s discount store, started doing high-fashion/high-end in the late `60s when it began introducing European men`s designer clothes, and it has always remained a powerhouse in menswear.
Alan Flusser, New York`s most noted men`s custom designer, calls Barneys
”the major force in menswear in this country. It carries such a tremendous cross-section of clothing and the level of taste is superior across the board.”
Pressman says one entire floor in the Chicago store will carry men`s tailored clothing and sportswear while half of the main floor will house men`s shoes and furnishings.
”I think there are some very good hometown boys there,” he says of other Chicago retailers known for their menswear. ”But, there are some things you don`t have in Chicago and nobody can give the depth and breadth that we can.”
Designer labels are bound to be strong in both the men`s and women`s assortments. Among those that have been closely associated with Barneys are fashion stars such as Azzedine Alaia, Giorgio Armani, Romeo Gigli, Issey Miyake, Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Ermenegildo Zegna, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren-all, incidentally, easily available within a two- or three-block area from the new Barneys at Oak and Rush.
Barneys began dabbling in women`s clothing in the late `70s, then opened its adjacent women`s store in 1986. The women`s clothing to be carried in Chicago will be ”a combination of (established) designers we believe in and young designers we`re always discovering. But we will also bring in a lot of product unique to us, product we develop under our own label.”
Barneys has long been known for the sportswear and ”go-to-work-clothes” produced under its name. With the major expansion that Barneys initiated in 1989 came a need for parallel expansion in its private label business, according to Pressman, which will result in a greater variety of clothing at a variety of price levels.
The `Chicago Buy`
The Pressmans (father, Fred, is chairman; the brothers are co-presidents with Gene handling merchandising/marketing and Robert in charge of finance/
operations) and one of Japan`s largest retailers (Isetan Company Limited)
will open a 230,000-square-foot store on New York`s Madison Avenue in early 1993; it will be the largest specialty store to be built in Manhattan in decades. Barneys has also opened stores across the country and in Japan. To indicate the explosive growth expected, says Barneys` projected volume for
`91-`92 will be $180 million; by the end of `93, with the addition of Chicago, Beverly Hills and the Madison Avenue store, the projected volume will be $350 million to $400 million in the U.S., another $100 million in Japan. Explains Gene Pressman: ”We`re going to need a lot of clothes to fill those stores.”
To do that, ”We`re going to open up our own design studio. Produce women`s jackets-with the same quality that goes into menswear-that will sell for $450, then we`ll do another level at $350, then $250. We`ll do the same with coats, sweaters, pants, blouses, first making deluxe, then expanding to a broader level, including things for our Co/Op (casual, forward separates). The Gap does this kind of thing at the jeans level, but nobody does this like we`re going to do it. We`re doing it because we don`t carry a lot of commercial (moderately priced) lines that you see everywhere.”
Pressman offers another explanation for the potential of their private label. ”Women are becoming very independent in their shopping, thinking very much like men. They`re willing to take the same things out of their closets and wear them over and over again. Designers are still important to them, but fewer designers are important. Women are becoming more interested in lasting style, they want the same quality that can be found in menswear.”
This is the kind of product and thinking Barneys is bringing to Chicago, says Pressman, adding, ”We are so excited about this store. It`s the biggest we`ve opened outside New York. In fact, we`re calling our trip to Paris and Milan for the fall shows `our Chicago Buy.` We`re going to be looking for things that are just right for the Chicago store. Got any ideas?” –
