Filene's Basement is up for sale

Filene's Basement, the Boston bargain landmark, is being put up for sale.

The plan, disclosed this afternoon in a regulatory filing, comes just weeks after the famed discounter said it was scrambling for cash to satisfy vendors who were threatening to push the company into bankruptcy because they had not been paid for months.

Since deciding to close 11 stores earlier this year, Filene's Basement's performance "has continued to deteriorate significantly since that time," according to today's regulatory filing by Retail Ventures Inc., the merchant's parent company. Attempts to renegotiate leases for the remaining 25 stores, the corporate office in Burlington, and the company's warehouse, "is not likely to lead to sustainable operations for Filene's Basement," Retail Ventures said in the filing.

As a result of these developments, Filene's Basement will be put up for sale and listed as a discontinued operation for Retail Ventures.

Mariellen Burns, a spokeswoman for Filene's Basement, declined to comment on the sale. Retail Ventures could not immediately be reached for comment.

"I'm dismayed by the thought of Filene's Basement being sold and not maintaining the integrity of having the automatic markdowns," said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a longtime customer of the bargain shop.

The flagship Downtown Crossing location, which accounted for 20 percent of the chain's sales, remains closed because of a stalled development project at the site.

Filene's Basement currently has 25 stores in the US, including seven in Massachusetts. The seven Bay State stores are in Peabody, Saugus, Watertown, Boston's Back Bay, Newton, Braintree, and Hyannis.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)