Eataly looks to buy or lease part of shuttered Barneys flagship

A month after Barneys New York closed all of its stores, a food hall is reportedly in talks to occupy part of the luxury retailer’s former flagship. As first reported by the New York Post, Italian market Eataly is looking at leasing or buying some space at the now-shuttered store at 660 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side.

Barneys filed for bankruptcy last August, blaming a major rent increase at its Madison Avenue location. Authentic Brands Group and B. Riley Financial Inc. later bought the company for $270 million.

Ashkenazy Aquisition Corporation, the owners of the building, and Barneys’ new owners agreed to keep the former flagship open for at least 12 months and operate it as a temporary pop-up retail space, with a smaller footprint.

According to the Post, Eataly could open a new 40,000-square-foot market at the site. The food hall opened its first New York City location in the Flatiron District in 2010, followed by a second space downtown at 4 World Trade Center.

[Via NY Post]

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• All Barneys New York stores to close by end of the month
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