Following years of careful planning, Bal Harbour Shops is thrilled to announce it has signed a lease with luxury specialty retailer Barneys New York to open the brand’s first Barneys New York location in Florida. The 53,000 s/f store, including the iconic Freds at Barneys New York, will anchor the upscale shopping center’s recently approved $400 million expansion plan.
“No fewer than three generations of my family have worked in one capacity or another for nearly four decades to make this happen, so we could not be any happier if we tried about Barneys New York finally coming to Bal Harbour. Theirs has always been a unique and compelling perspective on fashion and on luxury – and through Freds, on food, too – and we know their point of view will resonate with our customer. We are proud and humbled to welcome Barneys New York into the Bal Harbour Shops family,” Matthew Whitman Lazenby, third generation leader of Bal Harbour Shops and President and Chief Executive Officer of Whitman Family Development, LLC.
Barneys New York leadership signed a long-term lease with Bal Harbour Shops making a significant commitment to the area. “It’s a milestone for Barneys New York to launch our first location in Florida at Bal Harbour Shops, which attracts the best clients from around the globe, who mirror today’s Barneys clients,” said Daniella Vitale, CEO & President, Barneys New York. “We’re excited for Bal Harbour shoppers to experience Barneys New York’srenowned approach to creating environments with exclusive, rare and highly-edited products coupled with luxury services, food, and digital experiences.”
Launching in conjunction with Barneys New York at Bal Harbour Shops, Freds at Barneys New York is an iconic restaurant serving innovative European-inspired and contemporary American cuisine. Freds offers a dining experience that captures the style and elegance of the iconic store in which it resides alongside the world’s most coveted fashion designers. Executive Chef Mark Strausman will create a custom menu for the Bal Harbour location, using the best locally-sourced ingredients and changing menu items seasonally.
Brick and mortar locations continue to deliver trust, confidence, and an important social experience for shoppers, according to iModerate Research Technologies’ Marketplace Insights Report. In fact, according to that report, 74 percent of shoppers believe it’s important for brands to have physical stores versus an online-only presence. This sentiment was strongest among Millennial and Gen Z shoppers surveyed in the report. These results seem to hold uniquely true for the Bal Harbour Shops, which industry experts say is poised for 10% growth due to the mall’s ultra-luxe tenants and international appeal.
Barneys New York, along with Freds, is slated to open in 2023 in conjunction with the 350,000 square-foot Bal Harbour expansion, which will accommodate the lengthy waiting list of approximately 70 additional luxury boutiques. The Shops are now poised to build on their unparalleled fifty-plus year legacy of success with major retail and dining upgrades to the lushly-landscaped, open-air shopping center, which sits just across from the Atlantic Ocean.
