Barney Pressman (December 14, 1894 – August 24, 1991) was an American businessman and founder of

Barneys New York Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market. Barneys ...

retail store.New York Times: "Barney Pressman, Retailing Legend, Is Dead at 96" By STEPHANIE STROM
August 27, 1991

Early life

Pressman was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the son of an owner of a clothing store. He was one of seven children and was raised on the Lower East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Career

In 1923, he purchased the lease and contents of a small clothing store at Seventh Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan selling his wife's wedding ring to finance the transaction.Barneys in Rubble
Los Angeles Magazine, Jesse Kornbluth, March 1996 As his store was located in a non-traditional

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

area, Pressman purchased inventory at a discount at bankruptcies,

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

s, and in odd lots including searching the newspapers for notices of

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and divorce among the city’s elite.Real Goatskin and Lotsa Gas: The Pressman Saga Unzipped
New York Observer, Francine Prose, March 22, 1999Orlando Sun Sentinel: A Tale Of Wolves Swaddled In Sheep's Clothing
L.A. LOREK, May 16, 1999 By buying name-brand goods at a discount, he was able to severely undercut the manufacturer's selling price and although he did not have the most desired styles, his

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

customers preferred brand name products for low prices. His success incurred the wrath of the manufacturers who pressured local suppliers to limit sales to Pressman; Pressman circumvented their efforts and started to purchase excess inventory from independent retailers in the South, where the New York manufacturers had less influence. Pressman was known for aggressive sales promotions including "No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitation" and "Calling all men to Barneys" (mimicking Dick Tracy) as well as the heavy use of radio advertising to attract customers to his out-of-the-way location. As he could not afford prime-time radio advertising, he would sponsor programs featuring Irish music (reflective of his clientele) and radio broadcasts of the

Lindbergh baby kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amw ...

trial. In the 1950s, Barneys sold more suits than any other single store in the world, employing 150 tailors. In the 1960s, his son Fred changed the focus of the business and starting advertising to customers who were not as price sensitive and began to carry expensive suits and coats. He changed the name to Barneys New York. Pressman retired in 1975, but remained active in the business. In 1977, Barneys added women's apparel, housewares, cosmetics, and gifts. By the time of his death in 1991, Barney's had $200 million in sales. In January 1996, Barneys filed for bankruptcy protection after a dispute with its Japanese lender.

Personal life

Pressman was married twice. His first wife, Barbara, died in 1972; they had two children: Elizabeth (died 1971) and Fred who took over Barney's in 1975. His grandsons were both in the family business: Robert Pressman, was responsible for the financial side of the business; and his grandson Gene Pressman, was responsible for merchandising.New York Observer: "Barneys’ Life In Turnaround" By Chris Shott
July 11, 2007 His second wife was Isabel Pressman. In 1991 funeral services were held at the Central Synagogue in

. His granddaughter, Louise Sunshine, is the co-founder of the real estate marketing and sales company Sunshine Group.New York Times: "Louise Sunshine, Martin S. Begun"
February 16, 1997The Real Deal: "Louise Sunshine" By Lauren Elkies
retrieved September 27, 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pressman, Barney 1890s births 1991 deaths American Jews American company founders American retail chief executives American businesspeople in retailing