"Discounter to shutter four stores in Mass." October 18, 2011|By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff
Struggling discounter Filene’s Basement is closing four Massachusetts stores - about 15 percent of the chain’s locations - by the end of the year.
Store employees at the Braintree, Peabody, Saugus, and Watertown sites yesterday confirmed the shops would be shuttered around Christmas and that ongoing sales are final. Filene’s Basement has recently run newspaper advertisements featuring storewide 20 to 40 percent discounts only at these four locations.
Officials from Filene’s Basement and its parent company, Syms Corp., did not return messages last night seeking comment. A store associate who answered the phone in Braintree said the retailer did not renew its lease and would shutter by the end of December. An employee at the Filene’s Basement in Saugus said the store was closing because of a lack of business and workers were taking inventory last night.
But we are two years into a recovery and Massachusetts has done better than most, blah, blah, blah, pfffft, pfffft, pfffft.
Only three Filene’s Basement locations in Massachusetts will be left, in the Back Bay, Newton, and Norwood.
Retail analysts say the company, which says it invented the bargain, has suffered since shuttering the flagship store in Downtown Crossing several years ago. And Syms, the New Jersey discounter that bought Filene’s Basement out of bankruptcy in June 2009, has failed to turn around the brand with new strategies, such as creating joint stores to feature merchandise from both retailers.
“Losing the flagship cut the heart out of the organization. But there have been problems too since the Syms takeover, and at the end of the day, their stuff is just not as interesting to buy,’’ said Mike Tesler, president of Retail Concepts, a consultancy in Norwell. “These closings raise serious questions about the future. In the offprice world, it’s all about buying power and credibility. It’s going to be harder and harder to provide good deals. If it’s not working for shoppers here, it’s very doubtful it’s working for shoppers in Maryland and Connecticut.’’
Before Filene’s Basement filed for bankruptcy in 2009, it shut down 11 of the chain’s locations. After the latest round of closings is finished in December, only 22 will remain, according to a list of stores on the company’s website.
Edward A. Filene founded Filene’s Basement more than a century ago as a way to sell excess merchandise from his father’s department store upstairs.
The basement pioneered the concept of bargains when it devised a system of automatic markdowns, where merchandise is discounted on a set schedule that customers can track....
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"End of an era as Filene’s Basement prepares to close" by Jenn Abelson and Chris Reidy | Globe Staff, November 02, 2011
Filene’s Basement, the historic Massachusetts discounter, has filed for bankruptcy protection for the third time in just over a decade and will shutter for good after the holiday season....
The demise of Filene’s Basement also means the end of its popular “Running of the Brides” event, where hundreds of frenzied brides-to-be rummage through racks of wedding dresses at discount prices.
The top creditor, with an unknown claim amount, is the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.....
Why keep it a secret?
Related: Welcome to PBGC
Why were they invested in Filene's?
Also see: Bush Bankrupted Pension Insurance Fund
Hey, what's one more bailout for corporations?
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Also see: Shoppers reminisce at Filene's Basement
I stayed home. It's a cash Christmas again this year.
