http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...arneys-ON.html
Barneys at Scottsdale Fashion Square?
Erica Sagon
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 6, 2006 06:48 PM
Luxury department store Barneys New York could open at Scottsdale Fashion Square, according to the buzz going around at a giant retail industry convention in New York City this week.
Attendees said representatives from the exclusive department store chain were openly discussing plans to open a flagship store at the mall.
Stephen Bartha, a East Coast-based retail consultant whose clients include Barneys, would not confirm the store's opening.
"We're not prepared to (make) any comments, yet," he said from New York City on Wednesday night.
Yet.
Barneys would reportedly go on the east end of the Scottsdale Fashion Square, where it would partially replace an empty anchor space that was recently vacated by Robinsons-May.
The mall, located at Scottsdale and Camelback roads, is already home to high-end department stores Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom and to many other ritzy retailers including Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
Westcor, the Phoenix-based mall developer that partially owns and leases Scottsdale Fashion Square, did not return calls for comment on Wednesday night.
Several developers of high-end retail projects around the Valley are rumored to be courting Barneys.
In March, Bartha told The Republic that Barneys had been scouting sites in Phoenix and that a store could open as soon as 2008. He said Barneys has spoken with several developers in the Valley, but he declined to name them.
Barneys has eight namesake department stores, 12 CO-OP stores and 12 outlet stores, according to its Web site.