Business

A thread thrashin’

Guitar thrashers and haberdashers can make a bad fit.

Heavy-metal rocker Dave Mustaine — known for his punishing guitar licks in bands like Metallica and Megadeth — has unleashed an online tirade against Men’s Wearhouse over the late delivery of a Christmas gift card for his “awesome” tour manager.

“I really think that it sucks when people make false claims, that they don’t care to make good on a problem that is clearly their fault,” Mustaine ranted in a Facebook posting.

But even a legendary ax-man can’t take down an 1,144-store chain by himself.

Even after the disgruntled guitar god griped last week that the $1.7 billion chain — whose founder George Zimmer is famous for TV pitches that promise ‘You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it” — failed to make good on its guarantee for two-day delivery of a gift card ordered several days before Christmas, the shares popped.

They gained nearly 4 percent over two days to break above its 200-day moving average.

I don’t think Mustaine would care.

“With all of the ‘ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE IT’ crap I just had to say something,” Mustaine groused in his post, which has gone viral, generating 1,452 comments and 8,873 likes.

Company reps didn’t respond to requests for comment yesterday, but earlier said, “We apologize for the delay in receiving your gift card and agree that the delay is unacceptable.”

The riled rocker advised suit-wearing fans to shop at Jos. A. Bank instead and warned: “I for one, will never set foot in a Men’s Warehouse, even for shelter from a blizzard.” –James Covert

Mysteries

Barneys New York may be leaving downtown for the second time — the original Barneys at West 17th Street and Seventh Avenue closed in 1997. Management at the 18th Street Chelsea Co-op has been told that it may close late next month.

The swanky retailer’s PR staff is denying any move is afoot.

Barneys was acquired by New York hedge fund tycoon Richard Perry in May and has been reviewing properties.

Its struggling Dallas store was recently closed so it may focus on its better-performing New York and LA stores.

Barneys’ Co-op in Chelsea has a huge following with fashionistas and is the location for its twice-annual warehouse sales. There’s nothing like it in that neighborhood, which had a real estate boom but no swank shopping until Barneys.–Julie Earle-Levine

$chool fools

College freshmen and their parents could be in for a huge surprise come March 1 if Congress doesn’t extend some financial-aid measures.

Under the recently inked deal to avert the fiscal cliff, Congress also averted an automatic cut in the number and amount of federal loans and grants that could have kicked in on Jan. 1.

However, March 1 looms as the day when “sequestration” ends and Capitol Hill begins its budget battle again.

“Across-the-board spending cuts would mean an 8.2 percent drop in aid funding,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert.

“In particular, if Congress doesn’t act before the new deadline of March 1, 2013, the number of federal . . . grants and federal Work-Study jobs would be cut, fees on federal education loans would be increased, and the maximum Pell Grant would be cut by $300 to $400,” he added.

Kantrowitz also noted that one plan under consideration is tying student debt payments to employer tax withholdings. –Wilson Dizard

Big Board agita

Two weeks after the New York Stock Exchange agreed to an $8.2 billion acquisition by purchase by the Atlanta-based IntercontinetalExchange, traders and other employees at the Big Board are starting to feel a little nervous about their jobs.

“We are concerned because of technology in general — that is always a present concern,” veteran floor trader Doreen Mogavero told On the Money. “Will the new owners want the floor, and can they easily migrate us over to an electronic platform?”

As the new owners, ICE, consider the NYSE floor, there’s little doubt about this much: The historic symbol of American capitalism will be a dramatically different place than anything in its storied 212 years, experts say.

On the one hand, it could give floor traders an opportunity to trade new products on the floor. “That’s a home run,” said Mogavero.

Still, another floor vet echoed Mogavero’s worst fears. “Are jobs safe on the floor? Never. Whose job is safe?” he said, before hanging up on the telephone.–John Aidan Byrne