For me, the Barneys Warehouse Sale has been a bust so far! I stopped into the Chelsea space again last night after a friend wanted me to accompany her. We headed first to the women’s designer section since I already surveyed and reviewed shoes on the first day. Just two days into the sale… and already the selection was seriously depleted and lacking. We spent a few minutes digging through and saw nothing really special. I’m not surprised since my findings on the first day were pretty disappointing.
What’s left now are pieces that are on sale for a reason (no one wanted them!). A lot of the merchandise looked well-worn such as a crumpled camel blazer from The Row (now at $469, was $1,890), a Lanvin gold-sequined cardigan that has seen its day for $1,079 and a uninspiring Christopher Kane mini leather skirt for $419 (was $1,675), which looked like awful upholstery. There was even a couple of those Nina Ricci dresses (on sale for $639) from seasons ago. Important note: you can tell if an item is from previous season by looking for a red star on the tag.
On the first day, I did spot a few notables (which are now gone) such as a cashmere chunky camel-colored pullover sweater from The Row priced at $299 (was $1,190) and matching camel wool pants for $269 (was $639) and even the Lanvin tweed full-length winter coat with fur collar (on sale for $3,219, was $8,050) is now gone. That one surprised me, considering the price tag!
Another surprise is the large number of shoppers who were actually going through the “imperfects” section. There appeared to be more damaged merchandise on offer this time around – quite a number of racks. Is this what’s become of the Barneys Warehouse Sale? Selling damaged goods for outrageous prices?!
While the women’s designer merchandise was disappointing, there were actually some great pieces for little girls. Since I do have a couple of nieces, I thought I’d take a look. Worth pointing out were three dresses: a cute 60s style Milly shift in coral/green combo for $198 (was $396) and another Milly red/cream dress for $120 ($240) as well as a Dior for $228 (was $456). But seriously, I wasn’t going to pay these prices. They were only 50% off the retail price!
As for accessories, such as handbags. I spotted what would have been a nice Lanvin handbag (now at $539, was $2,160) had it not been badly scuffed and marked up. After seeing that, I decided not the waste my time. Sale ends on Labor Day. If you must go to this sale, don’t bother coming by until the last few days of the sale when the discounts will, we hope, be better.
Where/When:255 W. 17th Street. Thru Sept 3rd. Sat-Sun (9-8p), Mon-Wed (10-9p), Thurs Aug 30 (9-9p), Sept 1-2 (9-8p), Sept 3 (9-7p).
There must seriously be something wrong with people that would pay for some of this crap and at those prices!
Seriously, yikes!! I stopped by Barney’s at Woodbury on my way upstate and there really wasn’t anything special there (but at least the merchandise looked respectable!). Looks like all the rejects, damaged and returned goods were shipped to NYC and branded “warehouse sale” items.
I don’t know about the women’s imperfects, but the men’s imperfect section can be a huge source of bargains. Often it’s just trousers with no jacket (a great buy for the business casual office) or jackets with no trousers. Three times I’ve been able to match trousers and jackets and got suits by Zegna and Georgio Armani for $150.
Actually, the red stars indicate designer goods, however, you are right that there are items from seasons past hanging on the racks. I too was shocked at how much damaged merchandise there was, loads of blue tags. The shoes seemed in good shape, just not much in stock. I was told by an employee that they’re expecting more merchandise every day and I saw a lot of nice The Row cashmere coats there today. But you’re right – the kids clothes are adorable but WAY too expensive.
Any additional markdowns?
Alex – I hear they’re now taking an additional 25% off select items. I’ve not been since last week so I don’t have details. But I’m sure there will be another round of discounts on Friday.
Hi Alex – OK I have an answer… The sale will have mens (Krizia Uom, including ties at 85% off. I’m told current women’s stuff will be 70% off and previous seasons at 80-90% off retail.
I was just there. Men’s shirts and ties at additional 25% off is posted BUT most everything else is additional 25% off at the register. There was a list they were using but i was reading it upside down. Men’s shoes 25% off.
Thanks so much! Hoping to go get a few cute dresses that I saw last week that weren’t discounted enough. Hope they’re still there!