Barneys is Coming, Barneys is Coming

According to a report in the Boston Globe, Barneys New York, the Madison Avenue luxury retailer, is planning to open a new Co-op store on the main floor at Boston’s Copley Place, moving into a space to be evacuated by a Loews Cineplex.

The newspaper reported that though details of a lease could take another two months to complete and the store might not open until the end of 2005, Barneys is zeroing in on the 50,000 square feet of prime space in the upscale Back Bay mall.

No one from Barneys, Loews, or Simon Property Group (Indianapolis), which owns Copley Place, returned the newspaper’s calls. But executives who asked not to be identified said Barneys is already receiving mail addressed to the location and that Copley Place has a site plan with Barneys mapped on it., according to industry executives briefed on the negotiations.

“It’s a pretty large store” that’s envisioned, a Boston-area retail consultant told the Globe, adding that the move is considered a sure thing in the trade. “It’s going to become one of their anchor stores, along with New York, Beverly Hills, Chicago,” he said.

The upscale Copley Place already has Neiman Marcus and Tiffany’s as anchors, and houses Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton boutiques. Barneys has a full-price store in the Mall at Chestnut Hill. This would be its third Co-op store; there are currently versions of the smaller, lower-priced concepts in New York and Miami Beach.