It has introduced major luxury brands to the American market including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Zegna.

Barney's Clothes were stocked with 40 brand name suits and a big sign with a slogan, "No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitations".

Barney's sold clothing at discounted prices by purchasing showroom samples, retail overstocks, and manufacturers' closeouts at auctions and bankruptcy sales.

Fred Pressman's obituary in The New York Times stated: With his father's blessing, Fred Pressman slowly transformed the store from a salty discount house that sold roast beef sandwiches in its pub to a purveyor of Italian designers with a cafe serving Perrier and light salads.

He began to discard the types of suits that his father was prone to unearthing at auctions and bankruptcy sales, peppering the racks instead with then-obscure and top-name designers both, but continued to offer touches like free alterations that gave Barneys its reputation.Pressman is quoted as saying, "The best value you can offer a customer is personal attention to every detail, and they will return again and again.

The expanded store occupied the entire Seventh Avenue block (between 16th and 17th streets), with 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of selling space and 20 individual shops.

International House, Fred Pressman promised, would feature complete collections of European designers, "from denim pants to $250 suits", not just a watered-down "potpourri of fabrics and models".

It carried the full lines of designers such as Bill Blass, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, and Hubert de Givenchy.

Instead of the funds flowing directly through the holding company to the real estate investment, they were given in exchange to BNY Licensing (another Pressman family company that held the Barneys trademarks) for the projected 50 year royalty stream due BNY Licensing from Isetan for their Barneys Japan business.

Isetan had reported their investment in Barneys earlier in the year as a current asset expressing their intent and belief that it would be concluded in 1995/first quarter 1996.

In December 1995, under the advice of John P. Campo of LeBeouf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and Anthony Grillo of The Blackstone Group, the Pressmans recognizing that consolidating the investment and the business was no longer viable, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

During the bankruptcy some stores shuttered which included Cleveland, Ohio; Costa Mesa, California; Dallas and Houston, Texas; and Short Hills, New Jersey.

[15][19] As of February 2011, Barneys no longer sold Prada (with the exception of shoes and menswear) because of disagreements concerning prices and inventory control.

The former majority owner Istithmar World as well as new investor Yucaipa Cos will also be on the board as will current executive chairman Mark Lee.

[20] In December 2013, Women's Wear Daily announced that the retailer would return to the portion of its original Seventh Avenue site being vacated by bankrupt Loehmann's.

[21] In February 2016, Barneys New York returned to its original Seventh Avenue location in Chelsea opening a four-story flagship store.

The New York Times reported that Authentic Brands Group's strategy is "essentially betting that the future of retail lies with abstract values.

The flagship department stores were located in Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.

[41] The company opened a freestanding men's store in San Francisco in February 2016, and in summer 2018 announced it would add a restaurant.

[55] Created to house trendier and less expensive product than the rest of the store, the CO-OP was aimed at younger shoppers with smaller budgets than a traditional Barneys customer.

The CO-OP department was spun-off into a separate chain of stores in the 2000s, primarily located in shopping malls and lifestyle centers.

According to the general manager of the Food Coop, Barneys's use of the term is a violation of the New York State Cooperative Corporations Law.

The police had received a call from the store claiming that the debit card used was fraudulent, even though the customer provided proper identification at the time of the purchase.

[58] Another African American shopper, Kayla Phillips, came forward with a similar claim after she purchased a $2,500 Céline handbag with her debit card.

Both shoppers believe they were targeted because of their race after they purchased costly items and have stated they intend on filing discrimination lawsuits against the store.

[60] Within days of Sharpton's boycott announcement, fans petitioned rapper and businessman Jay-Z to sever ties with the retailer with whom he had a partnership.

[61] Jay-Z responded saying that he would look into the matter more thoroughly rather than make a snap judgment stating, "I move and speak based on facts and not emotion.

[63] Other conditions required that all of the proceeds of the BNY SCC collection be donated to Jay-Z's charity, the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.

According to a Department of Labor document, Kulture "presented informational meetings to company employees relative to the process of unionization" at Barney's locations in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

[67] In December 2018, Barneys hired Kulture Consulting to present "informational meetings" with employees at its Las Vegas location.