Filene's Basement closed eleven stores in January and it looks the retailer known for its Running of the Brides events is still struggling and will now have to sell. The Chicago Tribunereports that Filene's Basement was unable to renegotiate leases on its remaining 25 stores. They say the company is now looking for a buyer.
The Burlington, Mass.-based company, known for its "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sales, closed 11 troubled stores, including two in the Chicago area, earlier this year.
Filene's had hoped to renegotiate leases for its remaining 25 stores, but that prospect dimmed as the retail climate worsened, according to Columbus, Ohio-based parent company Retail Ventures Inc.'s filing with the Securities and Exchange.
Since January "the performance of Filene's Basement has continued to deteriorate significantly," the filing said. "RVI has concluded that renegotiation of the remaining leases is not likely to lead to sustainable operations."
WWD and Boston.com also say Filene's is for sale. The Boston.com article says Filene's Basement has "been unresponsive for months to requests seeking payment for merchandise."
The Running of the Brides is an annual occurrence at Filene's Basement on Union Square in New York City. Teams of men and women rushed into Filene's Basement in New York earlier today to grab wedding dresses with huge discounts. The recession made the heavily discounted dresses even more attractive than usual. The New York Daily Newssays over 1,000 bridezillas stormed into Filene's Basement early this morning.
More than 1,000 women flooded Filene's Basement for the discount department store's annual "Running of the Brides" event, where the retailer sold designer wedding dresses valued at up to $12,000 for $700 or less.
Workers opened the doors at 8 a.m. to the horde of shrieking brides-to-be who had waited outside the 14th St. store for hours to get their gowns on the cheap.
The brides pushed, shoved and trampled one another to get at the 3,000 discounted dresses Filene's hung on its racks, while employees clung to whatever they could to avoid the stampede.
Filene's did close a few stores this year but there will still be several more of the Running of the Brides events later this year at other Filene's Basement locations. There's a helpful calendar here on Filene's website that provides the dates.
Gothamist, MyFoxNY, NY1, PIX 11 and NBC also covered this year's event in New York. The New York Post said some people worked in teams so they could grab multiple dresses. Take a look:
Discount retailer Filene's Basement is going to be closing a third of its 36 stores reports NBC Chicago, The Boston Globe and Crain's Chicago. The retailer was unable to get its landlords to reduce rent prices by enough for it to keep stores open.
Home Textiles Todayreports that these are the locations being closed: "Orland Park and Schaumburg, Ill.; Columbia, Hunt Valley and Towson, Md.; Framingham, Mass.; Mercer, N.J.; Levittown, N.Y.; Pittsburgh and Springfield, Pa.; and Tyson’s Corner, Va."
The Boston based retailer is known for its Running of the Brides events.
Filene's Basement 
