Add Beijing to the list of possible targets as Barneys New York plots its global expansion.
The ultra-chic luxury chain has been “talking to architects” as it sniffs out prospective sites for a new flagship store in China’s capital, a person familiar with the matter told The Post.
Istithmar – the Dubai investment firm that shelled out $950 million to buy Barneys last year – recently has opened an office in Shanghai to survey the region’s fast-growing retail landscape. Other prospective Asian markets for Barneys include Dubai and Macau, sources said.
The scouting in Beijing comes as Barneys’ fortunes at home are deteriorating. A deal to open a 50,000-square-foot store in the Meatpacking District has been scuttled because of concerns about the firm’s credit, as demand for its high-priced fashions has fallen off a cliff, sources said.
Meanwhile, Istithmar still has yet to find a CEO to replace Howard Socol, who abruptly resigned in May in a tiff over expansion plans. Some industry insiders anticipate a winning candidate could be announced as soon as next week.
Speculation has focused on Gucci CEO Mark Lee, but people close to Lee said his interest in the job has been exaggerated.
One person said “industry insiders with international backgrounds” number among the finalists, and may include CEO Vittorio Radice of Italy’s La Rinascente; Paolo de Cesare, head of French department store Printemps and Marigay McKee, fashion director at Harrods in London.
Any of these execs will be challenged to make good on Istithmar’s ambition to make Barneys a global brand. It already is struggling to operate in Boston, Dallas and Las Vegas.
China also has been hit by the global financial crisis, but “there’s still going to be a lot of wealth there,” said Marc Beckman of Designers Management Agency, a global consultant. According to a recent Goldman Sachs report, China is the world’s third-largest luxury market, and will be No. 2 by 2015.
The Barneys brand also has long been a fixture in Japan, with three stores there, albeit under different ownership.
To be sure, China is laden with pitfalls, including cultural divides and brutal competition with other luxury brands. Lane Crawford, a Hong Kong-based department store frequently compared with Bergdorf Goodman and Selfridge’s in London, recently opened an 80,000-square-foot store in Beijing after a few stumbles with licensing efforts.
“The big question is whether Barneys will have an operations team on the ground that is experienced in China and in the luxury sector,” Beckman said. “If not, it could be a disaster.”
Meanwhile, the credit crisis is to blame for the scotched deal for a store at Washington and West 13th Streets, sources said. The landlord is looking to build a tower on the site, which is across the street from the tony Standard Hotel, and “has many other options” for tenants besides Barneys, one person told The Post.
Barneys is pursuing two other Meatpacking sites, including 414 W. 14th St., although a source said it has competition for that site.