Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Yesterday, Filene's Basement announced that it has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing all of its stores. Filene's has been in trouble for a while: This is its third waltz with Chapter 11 in the past decade or so. Back in 2009, Syms tried to rescue the brand, but that might not have been such a great move, as Syms also filed for bankruptcy yesterday.
How will this impact NYC? Let us count the ways:
1.) No more Running of the Brides. Which means no more early morning mob scenes or wacky local DJs parading around Union Square in wedding gowns. This is probably going to be harder on brides in other parts of the country, though. At least in NYC, we have wedding gown sample sales.
2.) Two major retail spaces are about to go on the market. Surely someone's going to want to that prime Union Square location (Nordstrom, are you listening?) As for the Upper West Side combined Filenes/Syms space, it's barely been there a year, and as our friends at MyUpperWest point out, it's the second-to-last business remaining on the east side of the block. Once that closes, all that's left is Zales, which has financial issues of its own. Another big box chain might actually revitalize the strip, but will the space appeal to potential tenants, or will its legacy of failure (it also once housed the now-defunct Circuit City) be a turn-off?
3.) Brooklyn's Fulton Street Renaissance is about to experience a bit of a hiccup. Filene's was one of the bigger-name brands due to occupy 490 Fulton. Looks like the landlords will need to find someone else now.
4.) We're in for some bonkers closing sales. Filene's already brings out the inner bargain beast in many shoppers, so liquidation—which runs through January— should be a savage affair. Refinery29 offers some tips for surviving the fray.
· Filene's Basement Has Filed for Bankruptcy [Racked National]
· Syms & Filene's Basement Going Out Of Business [MyUpperWest]
· 3 Ways To Survive The Filene's Going-Out-Of-Business Sale [Refinery29]
Loading comments...