Filene's to close in Downtown Crossing

The Filene's name brand will disappear, and its flagship store in Boston's Downtown Crossing will be closing, said city and department store officials Thursday.

Federated Department Stores Inc. chairman Terry J. Lundgren confirmed in an interview that the company would close Filene's in Downtown Crossing and keep open Macy's. But Federated, which owns Macy's, has not decided whether Macy's would remain at its current location or move across the street to Filene's space.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he prefers that Macy's moves into Filene's location, making the Macy's building available for another retailer. He said there is already interest, including some from discounter Target.

Filene's Basement, which occupies the lower levels of Filene's in Downtown Crossing, is owned by a separate company and should not be affected by the changes.

Menino's remarks come as Macy's parent company Federated said earlier Thursday that it plans over the next year to close 68 stores, including a dozen in New England, and turn all remaining Filene's into Macy's after it merges with rival May Department Stores Co.

Across the country, Federated is replacing all of May Company's regional names, including Hecht's, Kaufmann's, and Strawbridge's, with the Macy's brand by the fall of 2006.

The 68 stores slated to be sold -- a mix of Macy's, Filene's, and other regional stores -- accounted for about $2 billion in sales last year and employ 13,394 people. A small number of stores, in addition to the locations being sold, are being studied for potential conversion to the Bloomingdale's nameplate.

For now, the Lord & Taylor chain is the only one unaffected by the latest announcement.

The New England stores slated to close include: Filene's at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Cape Cod Home store in Hyannis, Maine Mall in Portland, Maine, Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury, Conn., Crystal Mall in Waterford, Conn., in Westfield Trumbull in Trumbull, Conn.; and Macy's at

the following locations: Southshore Plaza in Braintree, Westgate Mall in Brockton, Natick Mall in Natick, Northshore Mall in Peabody, Pheasant Lane in Nashua, N.H., and Warwick Mall in Warwick, R.I.