EARLY ARRIVAL: Barneys Returning To Chelsea Sooner Than Planned

As happy as everyone was to hear that Barneys New York was reclaiming part of its original Men's Store on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, the disappointment was having to wait until 2017 for the store to open. Now, it appears that the schedule has been accelerated. Quietly dropped into a WWD article about the chain's renovation of its Beverly Hills store is the news that the new Chelsea store is set to open in January of 2016, which is less than a year and a half away.
Why the new date?
Perhaps renovations are less extensive than was expected, or are simply going faster. At one point The Shophound came across a proposed redesign of the store's façade that was quite extensive and would have dramatically changed the look of the building. We aren't sure if it was ever fully in the plans, but perhaps scrapping it has moved up the finish date, as the building currently does not appear to be undergoing much in the way of exterior revision to accommodate the upcoming store.
At any rate, more Barneys coming faster is a good thing.
No word yet on the possibly unlikely but very exciting notion that the store would take over the rest of its original Chelsea store now that the Rubin Museum has sold the building, but they haven't said that they aren't doing that, so we will continue to maintain that probably delusional possibility.

Previously:
Boomerang: Barneys To Open A Downtown Flagship At Its Old Downtown Flagship