Filene's
Filene's was a
Boston-based
chain of
department stores owned by
Federated Department Stores. It operated in the
U.S. states of
Connecticut,
Massachusetts,
Maine,
New Hampshire,
New York,
Rhode Island and
Vermont.
Filene's was founded in Boston in 1881 as William Filene's Sons and Co. Under the direction of company president
Edward Filene, it opened its famous "Automatic Bargain Basement" in
1909, which became a heavily-visited tourist attraction. The concept of the bargain basement was not new (Marshall Field's opened the first in 1879), but Filene's basement was well-lighted and ostentatiously decorated. The basement had its own staff which bought surplus, factory clearances, overstock, or closeout merchandise - Filene boasted that he had once sold more than 7,000 pairs of woolen underwear in two July days. Goods were marked down according to an automatic schedule; an item that had been on sale for 12 days was marked down by 25 percent, after 18 days by 50 percent, after 24 days by 75 percent, and after 30 days it was given away. Ninety percent of goods sold in the basement were purchased within the first 12 days of sale (Jacobs 2004:25-26).
Filene's was one of the founding members of the
Federated Department Stores, Inc.. organization in 1929. It historically catered to the "carriage-trade." In 1988, after the leveraged buy-out of
Federated by
Campeau Corp. of
Toronto,
Canada, the division was sold to
May Department Stores Co. along with
Foley's of
Houston. It was at this time that Filene's and the equally famous
Filene's Basement were disassociated. Filene's Basement is currently owned by Retail Ventures, Inc.
In 1992 Filene's absorbed G. Fox & Co. of
Hartford, Connecticut, another division of
May Company. The 1990s saw a doubling of the Filene's organization as May invested in new stores and broadened Filene's price and product assortments. In 2002 it assumed operational control of the
Kaufmann's stores in western
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and
West Virginia.
Effective
August 30,
2005,
Federated Department Stores completed its previously announced acqusition of
May Department Stores, thus reuniting Federated and Filene's. On February 1, 2006 the Filene's/Kaufmann's organization was dissolved and the management of its stores was assumed by
Macy's East and the new
Macy's Midwest. The store's website was largely consolidated into macys.com during the spring of 2006. By autumn of the same year, the Filene's name and brand will be phased out as
Federated will convert Filene's to the
Macy's masthead. The landmark flagship Filene's department store at Downtown Crossing was closed in early 2006 and consolidated across the street in the existing Macy's store.
The store's Downtown Crossing flagship location was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
*
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA/
Danbury -
Danbury Fair Mall (opened 1986 as G. Fox, closed 3/2006)*
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA/
Trumbull -
Westfield Trumbull (formerly Trumbull Shopping Center) (opened 1978 as G. Fox)*
Hartford MSA/
Enfield -
Westfield Enfield (formerly Enfield Square)(2 locations) (opened 1971 as G. Fox)*
Hartford MSA/
Farmington -
Westfarms (2 locations)
(opened 1974 as G. Fox)*
Hartford MSA/
Manchester -
The Shoppes at Buckland Hills (2 locations)
(opened 1986 as G. Fox)*
New Haven-Waterbury MSA/
Meriden -
Westfield Meriden (formerly Meriden Square) (opened 1971 as G. Fox)*
New Haven-Waterbury MSA/
Milford -
Westfield Connecticut Post (formerly Connecticut Post Mall) (opened 1991 as G. Fox)*
New Haven-Waterbury MSA/
Waterbury -
Brass Mill Center (opened 1997)*
New London MSA/
Waterford -
Crystal Mall (opened 1984, closed 3/2006)*
Boston -
Downtown Crossing (flagship)
(opened 1890, closed 2006 and consolidated in the existing Macy's store)*
Boston MSA/
Belmont -
Belmont Center (freestanding)
(opened 1978)*
Boston MSA/
Braintree -
South Shore Plaza (opened 1961)*
Boston MSA/
Brockton -
Westgate Mall (opened 2003)*
Boston MSA/
Burlington -
Burlington Mall (opened 1968, closed 3/2006, location to be assumed by Nordstrom)*
Boston MSA/
Cambridge -
CambridgeSide Galleria (2 locations)
(opened 1990)*
Boston MSA/
Hanover -
Hanover Mall (opened 1972)*
Boston MSA/
Kingston -
Independence Mall (opened 1989)*
Boston MSA/
Marlborough -
Solomon Pond Mall (opened 1996)*
Boston MSA/
Natick -
Natick Mall (opened 1965, closed 3/2006, became Macy's 5/2006)*
Boston MSA/
Newton -
The Mall at Chestnut Hill (opened 1974, closed 3/2006, converting to Bloomingdale's)*
Boston MSA/
Peabody -
Northshore Mall (replacement opened 1993, became Macy's 5/2006)*
Boston MSA/
Saugus -
Square One Mall (opened 1994)*
Boston MSA/
Taunton -
Silver City Galleria (opened 1992)*
Cape Cod (Barnstable County) MSA/
Hyannis -
Cape Cod Mall (opened 1970, closed 3/2006, converting to second Macy's mall store)*
Cape Cod (Barnstable County) MSA/
Hyannis -
Capetown Plaza Home Store
(opened 1999)*
Pittsfield MSA/
Lanesboro -
Berkshire Mall (opened 1994 in former Steiger's location)*
Springfield -
Eastfield Mall (opened 1994 in former Steiger's location)*
Springfield MSA/
Holyoke -
Holyoke Mall at Ingleside
(replacement opened 1995 for former G. Fox location)*
Worcester MSA/
Auburn -
Auburn Mall (2 locations)
(opened 1997)*
Worcester MSA/
Leominster -
The Mall at Whitney Field (formerly Searstown Mall) (opened 2002)*
Worcester -
Worcester Center Galleria (opened 1971, closed 1992)
*
Providence, Rhode Island MSA/
North Attleborough -
Emerald Square (2 locations)
(opened 1989, home store opened 2005)*
Providence, Rhode Island MSA/
Dartmouth -
Dartmouth Mall (opened 2004)*
Bangor -
Bangor Mall (opened 1998)*
Portland MSA/
South Portland -
The Maine Mall (2 locations)
(opened 1983, men's store opened 1995, closed 3/2006)*
Boston, Massachusetts MSA/
Newington -
Fox Run Mall (opened 1983)*
Boston, Massachusetts MSA/
Salem -
The Mall at Rockingham Park (opened 1991)*
Manchester-Nashua MSA/
Manchester -
Mall of New Hampshire (opened 1996)*
Manchester-Nashua MSA/
Nashua -
Pheasant Lane Mall (opened 1993)*
Albany-Schenectady MSA/
Albany -
Crossgates Mall (opened 1984, replacement opened 1994, became Macy's 5/2006)*
Albany-Schenectady MSA/
Rotterdam -
Rotterdam Square (opened 1995, in former Hess's location)*
Poughkeepsie-Middletown MSA/
Kingston -
Hudson Valley Mall (opened 1995, in former Hess's location)*
Poughkeepsie-Middletown MSA/
Middletown -
Galleria at Crystal Run (opened 1992 as G. Fox)*
Poughkeepsie-Middletown MSA/
Poughkeepsie -
Poughkeepsie Galleria (opened 1987, sold to G. Fox in 1988, reacquired 1992)*
New York MSA/
West Nyack, Rockland County -
Palisades Center (opened 1998)*
Providence -
Providence Place (opened 1999)*
Providence/
Warwick -
Warwick Mall (opened 1970)*
Providence/
Warwick -
Rhode Island Mall (opened 1990, opened 1967 as G. Fox, Filene's closed 1997)*
Burlington -
Burlington Town Center (opened 1999)
