Barneys New York shoppers are in for a fright next time they try to go to the former luxury department store.
Spirit Halloween will be moving into the location soon for at least the season, according to Curbed. The store at 101 Seventh Avenue has been sitting vacant for almost two years.
Barneys was at the 101 Seventh Avenue location from 2016 to 2019, when the company went into bankruptcy. The brand was eventually sold to Authentic Brands and B. Riley, which closed all of its stores in 2020.
It’s not clear how much Spirit Halloween is paying to take up residence in the location — or how long the seasonal store’s occupancy will last – but the Commercial Observer reported the owners were looking to sell the 51,942-square-foot retail condo for $40 to $50 million.
Spirit Halloween rears its head every autumn, cannibalizing vacant space across strip malls and commercial buildings. Last year, the company withstood the pandemic to open more than 1,400 stores, an increase from 2019.
The holiday pop-up defies most retail norms, signing temporary leases on vacant space for the fall, when its sales are concentrated. In 2019, Spirit Halloween generated 90 percent of its revenue between Labor Day and Halloween, compared to 29 percent for other party stores over the same period.
Meanwhile Authentic Brands has attached the electrodes and plans to jolt Barneys back to life, with an outpost set to open within the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship at 611 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan later this year.
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[Curbed] — Holden Walter-Warner