Barneys scion Gene Pressman accused of smearing – Business News
A former Barneys government has sued a scion of the fallen luxurious empire over his bestselling memoir, claiming the ebook falsely blamed him for the long-lasting retailer’s downfall — and that the writer and his brother had been the actual culprits.
Ex-Barneys president Charles Bunstine alleges that Gene Pressman’s “They All Came to Barneys: A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Store” is a smear to his status — with the ebook falsely claiming that Bunstine “had neither the feeling, nor the experience to satisfy the responsibilities required of his role at Barneys.”
In actuality, it was the Pressman brothers’ “inexperience” in growing the business they inherited from their father — the legendary service provider Fred Pressman — that finally doomed the chain, with an overly aggressive growth strategy that sparked “significant cost overruns,” in keeping with Bunstine’s go well with.
Charles Bunstine was named president of Barneys in 1995. Anna Maier
Calling the tome nothing however a “score-settling account,” Bunstine is demanding $2.4 million and an apology from 74-year-old Pressman and his writer Penguin Random House, in keeping with the go well with filed earlier this month in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Pressman didn’t reply to requests for remark. An legal professional for Penguin and Pressman declined to remark to The Post. Bob Pressman didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In a September e-mail reviewed by The Post, Penguin informed Bunstine that it could “refrain from ordering reprints of the book while we work through your claims.”
“They All Came to Barneys,” which debuted in September on the New York Times bestseller listing at No. 6, implies that Bunstine “was responsible for or at minimum significantly contributed to the Barneys bankruptcy in January 1996,” in keeping with the criticism.
Gene Pressman’s memoir describes Barneys former president as a “bean counter.” New York Post
The ebook dismisses Bunstine as a “bean counter” whose “attempts to institute order” at Barneys alienated each distributors and workers, inflicting a stampede of expertise to depart the company earlier than its January 1996 chapter, in keeping with the go well with.
“The problem was, Charles just wasn’t ‘Barneys,” Pressman writes, in keeping with the go well with.
“He hadn’t been raised in it the way we had – dyed in the wool, as it were. Charles was ‘efficiency.’ He was an accountant type, and he was going to run Barneys like a business. But Barneys – though it was responsible for millions in sales and plenty of careers – wasn’t anything as staid as that. Barneys was Barneys.”
“He even got involved with our vendors, negotiating without the finesse or understanding that had always characterized those relationships,” the memoir states.
Gene Pressman’s memoir was printed in September 2025. John Lamparski / Shutterstock
Yet within the buildup to Barneys’ chapter submitting in January 1996 – a transfer Bunstine stated he strongly opposed, whilst he grew to become the “public face” of the implosion – the Pressman brothers withheld key financial info from him, together with why it wasn’t paying distributors, the ex-president alleged.
Barneys needed money and the Pressmans turned to Japanese lender Isetan, making personal ensures for the loans that even Gene was hesitant to go together with, the go well with claims.
”’I’m by no means signing this,’ I seethed at Bob,” Gene Pressman wrote within the memoir “This is total bulls–t. Business is one thing, but I’m not going to jeopardize my family.”
“‘Don’t worry,’ [Bob] told me. All of our assets—our shares in Barneys, the real estate—were protected in trusts and had been for years. We could sign personal guarantees, but the Japanese would never be able to break into the coffers.”
Bob Pressman, seen subsequent to his mom, Phyllis, dealt with funds for Barneys. Patrick McMullan through Getty Images
Isetan doled out $600 million in loans for the aggressive growth, together with a store in Tokyo.
Bunstine recounts a heated assembly in Tokyo, the place Isetan president Kazumasa Koshiba “walked behind his executives to an empty chair that he did not take. He stood directly across from [the Pressmans], raised his hand to point his finger at them and said, ‘We trusted you.’ His tone was one of anger. He then left as did all his executives,” in keeping with the lawsuit.
Barneys was at its “peak of success” during his tenure, Bunstine claims. But Pressman’s ebook allegedly “works to settle his score against the individual his father gave responsibility to.”
Bunstine was employed by Pressman’s father Fred – who famously reworked his own father Barney Pressman’s males’s go well with business into a luxurious empire within the Nineteen Sixties – as a senior government in 1992.
Gene Pressman is being sued by his brother, Bob, for alleged tax evasion in reference to their mom’s property. Marcy Swingle / Shutterstock
Fred Pressman made Bunstine president in 1995, turning into the primary individual exterior the household to achieve the higher echelon of the company. Gene Pressman and his brother Bob — who was in charge of funds on the time — had been co-presidents. Their mom and two sisters had been concerned within the business as effectively.
Bunstine claims his promotion was a slap within the face to Gene Pressman, who allegedly mischaracterized the explanation Bunstine grew to become president – writing that it was as a result of his dad was identified with most cancers.
Pressman implied that Bunstine was tapped by somebody “facing the end of his life after a diagnosis … rather than what the chairman, CEO and owner wanted to do to further the success of his business,” in keeping with the criticism.
Barneys filed for chapter safety in 1996 and again in 2020. 6.17.97
The plaintiff additionally takes exception with how Pressman framed the timing of the occasions, stating that the most cancers analysis got here after the promotion – not the opposite means round, because the ebook states.
It all comes down to bitter grapes, alleges Bunstine, who at the moment heads luxurious bridal designer Anna Maier.
“Fred made me president and took all Gene’s direct reporting away from him and gave it to me,” the go well with states.
In current years the Pressman brothers grew to become estranged.
Gene and Bob Pressman at Barneys. Fairchild Archive through Getty Images
Last 12 months, Bob Pressman accused his late mom and siblings of orchestrating an elaborate tax fraud scheme that cheated New York state out of $20 million. Gene Pressman was served with the go well with at a signing in Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan final 12 months, as The Post solely reported.
Barneys filed for chapter for a second time in 2020. All of its shops closed and the model is now owned by licensing firm, Authentic.
