The end of Filene's?

[Temeteron]

I feel exactly the opposite, every Macy's I've been in from Herald Square New York to Downtown Crossing Boston to the Cape Cod Mall has been crap. I always prefered Filene's or Bloomingdale's when I was living in New York.

You cant compare Macy's, Filene's, or Bloomingdale's........its like comparing apples oranges, and lemon.......IMO I like Bloomingdale's out of the 3 the best, they carry so many more upscale exclusive brands than the other two. Macy's would come in at 2nd...I never really liked Filene's that much, it reminds me of Dillard's. I definately like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks as well. But all these stores' merchandise vary from place to place. The Bloomingdales' in NYC and Lenox Square in Atlanta carry way more variety than the Perimeter location (ATL) and the Chestnut Hill (Boston) location. Same thing goes with all the other stores......Bigger cities/Busier Malls carry way more things than smaller cities/locations.

[StevenRocks]

Steven is there a forum on here that you dont go into? lol

Nope. LOL

[UrbanLifter]

Slightly off topic. Federted is closing the Lord & Yaylor at Northshore Mall. Federated still plans on selling the division.

[StevenRocks]

That's horrible news for Northshore. It's going to be several years until Nordstrom comes in, and that leaves the mall two anchors short in the meantime.

[pdxstreetcar]

i was just in boston monday and the prices were now up to 80% off at the downtown store so i guess its very close to closing

[UrbanLifter]

I was at Burlington Mall today. Filene's had a poster that said "Last 7 Days". The store looked mostly vacant of merchandise. The fixtures are for sale.

[tombarnes]

While there's no comparison to Bloomingdale's, I still liked the original store at Downtown Crossing. It's very sad to see it go. At least the building won't be harmed....I hope.

[Garris]

I was at Burlington Mall today. Filene's had a poster that said "Last 7 Days". The store looked mostly vacant of merchandise. The fixtures are for sale.

I was just at the Filene's in the Providence Place mall this past Saturday, and there's no signs of changing to Macy's anytime soon. Does anyone know when this is happening?

- Garris

Providence, RI

[DigitalSky]

September.

[UrbanLifter]

Update. All the Filene's that are not converting to Macy's have closed except for Downtown Crossing. It will close in a few weeks.

From the Globe "Eight Filene's stores were shuttered over the past week in Massachusetts, and only the first floor of the flagship store, in Boston's Downtown Crossing, remains open, a Filene's spokeswoman said. The Boston shop is still selling clearance items, along with furs and carpets, and is expected to close in coming weeks."

496 To Lose Jobs

[StevenRocks]

A sad end to a proud retailer. I hope Federated/macy's is proud of itself. That's a lot of history and brand equity flushed away.

[tombarnes]

A sad end to a proud retailer. I hope Federated/macy's is proud of itself. That's a lot of history and brand equity flushed away.

Condos in the Filene's building? It's far better than the wrecking ball, but it's still a deeply depressing notion.

[Cotuit]

Condos in the Filene's building? It's far better than the wrecking ball, but it's still a deeply depressing notion.

There will be no wrecking ball, that's almost a certainty, people in Boston wouldn't let that happen. Most likely a new retailer will go into the Filene's spot, Target has been being mentioned a lot. Filene's Basement will remain in it's current location (in the basement), the basement was spin off of Filene's years ago and is not effected by the merger. The condos would come in the form of a new tower built above the existing Filene's store.

[StevenRocks]

I guess Target's better than nothing.

[DigitalSky]

yeah now Filene's Basement is owned by Value City/American Eagle's parent company isn't it?

[StevenRocks]

Filene's Basement is owned by the same company as Value City (and DSW), but American Eagle is a seperate company altogether.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

I hated reading the article about the sales at the downtown crossing store. I loved that store - like all of the older downtown department stores. However, I have to say, I don't have any sympathy for the loss of the Filene's brand. I still remember - not too fondly - the changes we had to endure - the loss of our history - when G. Fox & Co. stores were changed to Filene's.

[StevenRocks]

May Company has been ruthless in its conversions and aquisitions, but the loss still stings.

[UrbanLifter]

All the May Stores were the same format despite the name changes regionally. Foleys. Filenes, Hechts, and more. I know the Filenes here had the same exact layouts and decor as the Foleys in Dallas.

[StevenRocks]

The good thing about how they did things is that there was little variation in how they were laid out. If you needed socks, they were in the logical May Co. location for them, for example.

[DigitalSky]

yeah that was convenient

[StevenRocks]

I was not a big May Co. fan but I appreciated some of the conventions they brought to the table: longer hours, great home departments, consistent merchadise, lots of discounts (real and imagined).

[Cotuit]

City makes Filene's site a landmark. Two of 4 buildings must be preserved. [Boston.com]

[StevenRocks]

^^ Good for them. Otherwise those buildings would get trashed.

[Cotuit]

Modell's interested in Filene's building. Mayor says he would welcome the chain to Downtown Crossing. [Boston.com]