Barneys: Waste of space or right in place?

For

Barneys New York is a great addition to the new wing at Scottsdale Fashion Square.
It’s a refreshing alternative to having to deal with the snooty retail clerks at Neiman Marcus. 

Of course we all can’t afford to shop at Barneys, but it truly appeals to the different types of men and women in Scottsdale.

The stereotypical man of Scottsdale “The 30,000 dollar millionaire,” drives a white beamer with 24-inch. black rims and circles the valet line three times just to get people to notice him. He wears flashy designer clothes because that’s where all his money goes, but in reality he can’t afford to pay for his own dinner, let alone date a Scottsdale girl. And the actual millionaire, either by hard work or hard working parents, is everywhere in Scottsdale.

The stereotypical women of Scottsdale: fake hair, Gucci bag, Louboutin pumps, Channel bling, all finished off with a stuck-up attitude and a big alimony check.

Where could a better place for Barneys New York possibly be then in the heart of Scottsdale?

Okay okay, not every woman and man in Scottsdale are like the ones I just described but I would say half of them are.

The rest of us (well most), if we had that money, would love to valet our dream car at Barneys, strut through those big glass double doors, spend $900 (pocket change) on Manolo Blahnik stilettos to match our $1,095 Stella McCartney organic seamed shift dress and have just enough time to grab a bite at Fred’s before our 3 p.m. mani peddie.

Sure this is only the life of half the people in Scottsdale, but its not like they put the Barneys in a college town like Tempe; it’s in Scottsdale, the place where money means everything to people. If you have it then you show it off. If you don’t have it, you pretend you do. If you don’t like it then don’t go there. It’s that simple.

Now, all those people who don’t have that much money but want to look like they do (the other half of Scottsdale) have another place to spend their hard earned rent money and they have another excuse to go to the mall.
Barneys New York, welcome to Scottsdale. I’m sure you will fit right in.

Against

Why would Fashion Square Mall open a Barneys in its new addition? To torture financially stretched college students—that’s why.

I fell in love with a pair of pale pink, satin Miu Miu pumps with jewel embellished heel and toe detail; the soulmate to the Christopher Kane Anya flounce dress I held delicately in my arms. It was a match made in heaven.

Retail tyrants like to dangle attractive clothing, shoes and accessories in front of me and devastate me with the price tag.

The Christopher Kane Anya flounce dress is marked at $3,185 and the pale pink, satin Miu Miu pumps are $695.

Excluding tax and accessories.

Barneys is ridiculously expensive, even for the ritzy Scottsdale scene. Most shoppers walk towards the luxurious luminosity of the store, but to be honest, I don’t see shoppers walking around Fashion Square with bulging Barneys bags.

At Barneys, finding a dress that I like under $2,000 is impossible and the selection of to-die-for shoes are marked well above $600.

College students who are ridiculous enough to shop at Barneys fall under these categories: trust fund babies, rich parents, materialistic, have no financial conscious, or are contributing to our failing economy with their credit card debt—good job. 

If I saw someone around campus flaunting an $885 Marc Jacobs dress, I wouldn’t be impressed. Of course I’d be jealous, but I would question their sanity more than anything. I would then admire their shoes and scoff away.

Tempted as I am to hand over plastic and walk away with arms full of glossy-labeled Barneys bags full of wearable art, I am a college student. I need to save my money and study.

Instead of spending $3,880 on scoff-worthy apparel, I could pay for two semesters at SCC plus books, 106 tanks of gas, 1,592 Starbucks venti black iced teas to get me through class, one year and two months of my car payment, or eight months of rent.

I like shopping as much as the next girl, but it was unnecessary for Fashion Square to open up the shopping equivalency to the Garden of Eden. I’ll stick to something a bit less upscale since Barneys will surely close down.

Until then, I’ll be shopping the sale racks everywhere else in the mall, and I’ll still look good.