Shop Talk

A little more privacy at Barneys sale?

Chelsea Emery

Jun 1, 2010 21:13 UTC

Bashful New York bargain hunters may finally be able to guard their modesty at one of the city’s biggest annual retail events, as luxury chain Barney’s is considering adding dressing rooms at its mobbed New York warehouse sale.   

While well-educated and well-heeled professionals don’t think twice about unleashing their animal instincts to grab the best designer merchandise at 75 percent off, many are reticent about stripping down in public to make sure they have the right size before ringing up a final sale.

 San Francisco and Los Angeles shoppers have already enjoyed the relative privacy of dressing rooms at the Barneys events in their cities.    

“We’re experimenting with it right now,” Barney’s director of stores Michael Celestino told the Reuters Global Luxury Summit. “We’re a little space constrained right now in in New York, but it’s something we’re considering.”

“These companies make me feel secure”

Worried about the safety of your personal information? On second thought, maybe you’re not — if you shop with your American Express card, surf eBay or use an IBM system.
 
Those three companies are consumers’ picks for the top most trusted when it comes to protecting their customers’ privacy, according to a survey by TRUSTe, a consumer privacy protection organization, and the Ponemon Institute, an independent research group. 
 
Consumers reported that identity theft is the No. 1 factor influencing their view of how companies handle privacy concerns, with only 45 percent of respondents saying they felt they had control over how their personal information was used or shared. That’s down from 56 percent two years ago.
    
The worries over data security are real — companies from discount retailer TJX Cos to Bank of New York Mellon Corp have had major data breaches compromising the personal information of millions of consumers.
    
The top ten list is rounded out by Amazon.com, Johnson & Johnson, the U.S. Postal Service (which shares the No. 6 spot with Hewlett Packard), Procter & Gamble, Apple, Nationwide, and Charles Schwab.
    
The survey, now in its fifth year, polled nearly 6,500 U.S. adults to determine their view of the most trustworthy companies and brands when it comes to protecting personal information.
    
Companies including Disney, AOL and Dell made it to the top 20 list, with Yahoo, FedEx, Facebook and Verizon joining that group for the first time since 2004, when the Ponemon Institute began conducting research on the topic. It was also the first time for Apple, at No 8.

Google, whose growing dominance of the search market has prompted questions over how it uses its data, found itself ousted from the Top 20 list this year, as were Countrywide and Bank of America.