Filene's Basement

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Filene's Basement began in 1909 beneath the Filene's department store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing. Edward A. Filene created the operation to move surplus and closeout merchandise, turning the basement into an early temple of the bargain hunt.

Its famous automatic-markdown system put prices on a schedule: wait longer, pay less—provided somebody else had not already liberated that jacket from the rack. The formula made the Basement a New England institution and later helped propel a multi-state off-price apparel chain.

In 1988, amid Campeau Corporation’s takeover of Federated Department Stores, Filene's Basement was separated from the Filene's department-store division in a management buyout. The independent company was headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, later maintained headquarters in Burlington, and passed through bankruptcy, expansion, and several owners, including Value City/Retail Ventures.

Syms acquired key Filene's Basement assets in a 2009 bankruptcy auction. On November 2, 2011, Syms and Filene's Basement filed Chapter 11 cases; the retail operation ceased around December 31, 2011 after liquidation. Our Filene's Basement collection celebrates the glorious pre-algorithm thrill of digging for designer treasure while the price tag kept losing its nerve.