Filene's Basement dresses up look of future stores

Discount Store News, Jan 9, 1984 by Karen Paxton

DANVERS, Mass.--Federated's off-price outfit, Filene's Basement, will replace its nofrill look with high-tech drama as the chain gears up to expand into new markets this year.

Track lights shining on huge fashion photos, gray carpets with bold red stripes, an exposed ceiling painted gray or black, and massive signing lettered in black and red create the backdrop for bargain-hunting in the Filene's Basement stores that opened last October here and in Dedham, Mass.

Once fine-tuned, the new look will become the prototype for all future Filene's Basement stores, said mel Johan, senior vp and director of the division. The 14-unit chain, which added four stores in 1983, has more aggressive expansion plans for 1984 including pushing into new markets, he added.

in Danvers, shoppers roll carts along a black tiled race track; low-hanging red ceiling pipes mark off the traffic aisle from above. Most bargain-hungry Filene's Basement shoppers waste no time moving into the carpeted departments to get a closer look at "nearly perfect" wool blazers by Jones N.Y. priced at $60, Guy Laroche silk dresses tagged at $120 or Nicole Miller rayon dress for $95.

Items clasified by chain management as "retail stocks" also attracted shoppers' attention. (Retail stocks describe past or current season goods that are either a national department store's private label or bear an original price tag of a department store. Such closeouts or overruns are heavily emphasized at Filene's Basement.)

Women scoured a circular rack signed I. Magnin and came away with anything from a Magnin-label polyester blouse for $20 to a Mario Valentio suede culotte tagged by Magnin at $650, price by Filene's Basement for $120.

A banner running high along the outer walls of the 20,000 sq. ft. used for selling space in Danvers underscores the off-price them: "Boston's famous marketdown store. Save 20% to 50% on designer and prestigious labels." Similar signing serves as a lead-in to the store, and even more signs naming labels such as Calvin Klein, Sasson Charles Jourdan and Valentino hang from pipes over the traffic aisle.

The new look is the "third generation" of Filene's Basement stores, according to Johan. The original, "first-generation" store opened in the basement of Filene's Department Store some 75 years ago. That store is strictly piperacks and bargain tables.

The "second-generation" stores are the 11 units that were opened from 1978 to October 1983 in suburban Massachusetts, Long Island, Queens, N.Y., and West Hartford, Conn. Those stores feature more circular racks and wall shelving for men's shirts, but have bare floors and follow a nofrill approach to presentation.

The third-generation stores were unveiled last October in two locations formerly occupied by Dayton Hudson's Lechmere stores. When the hard lines specialty chain was reformated with a more limited mix, 35,000 sq. ft. at danvers and 30,000 sq. ft. at Dedham were walled off and leased to Filene's Basement.

The revamped Filene's Basement stores "will serve as the vehicle to establish Federated in the off-price arena," explained New England zone manager Charles Naff, who oversees all but four of the chain's 14 units. (Federated's other off-price chain is the Childrens Place/Childrens Outlet.

In expanding in 1984 and future years, management at Filene's Basement will move more heavily into "retail stocks" to help widen the gap between its assortment and the offerings of its off-price competitors, Naff explained.

In Massachusetts, the "retail stock" assortment included private label items from the regional chain Cambridge Dry Goods in addition to national department store labels. Filene's Basement in Danvers also stocked some of its own private label goods under the Filene's name, which aren't sold in the department store division. A Filene's long sleeve woman's cotton shirt was tagged at $8.99.

In addition to a stronger emphasis on department store closeouts, the prototype stores will add a 55-ft. assortment of Ambassador greeting cards. The two newest units were slated to begin the test phase of the card program in December and continue into 1984 with an off-holiday assortment. All cards and wrap will be discounted 30% off the listed price at checkouts.

Filene's Basement stores offer men's, women's and children's clothing, shoes, jewelry and some home decor items including figurines, vases and frame prints.