Filene’s Basement fans of all ages descended like a pack of door-busting brides on the chain’s Back Bay store yesterday to experience the bankrupt retailer’s final Black Friday.
“There are too many greasy spoons around and not enough quality like Filene’s,” said retired Bostonian Rita Petroni, 74. “It was sad enough when the one in Downtown Crossing closed, and now we have to see this.”
The 102-year-old company, which famously bought the stock of Chanel boutiques in 1940 when the Nazis approached Paris and sold it in its Boston locations, will close for good in early 2012 after liquidation sales timed to take advantage of the holiday shopping season.
“It’s so nuts. I’ve been shopping here with my mom forever,” said Lian Parsons, 16, of the West End. “In today’s economy, we need good deals. I’ll definitely miss it.”
Filene’s Basement, which is shuttering all 21 of its stores as part of a bankruptcy filing by parent Syms Corp., has slashed its already heavily discounted prices by another 20 percent to 40 percent.
“I’ve been coming here since 1987, and the prices were awesome — especially for suits,” said Richard Lewis, Sr., a managing partner at Windsor-Fitzgerald who was shopping for bargains yesterday.
Judey Cunha, an employee at Beaucage Salon and Spa on Newbury Street, said people came from all over the world to buy discounted Armani, Versace and Gucci clothing. She said the chain sharply declined in 2007 after the Downtown Crossing location closed to make way for a redevelopment that never materialized because of the recession.
“After it shut down, the company became just like any other discount chain, so this closure is pretty anticlimactic — though I did score a good deal on Dolce Gabbana sunglasses,” said Cunha, who fondly recalled the “total mayhem” of the Basement’s trademark “Running of the Brides” sales.
“Women were just snatching left and right — and it wasn’t even for correct sizes,” Cunha said. Still, I got my wedding dress there. It’s the end of an era.”
The liquidation, which started Nov. 16, has a twist: Filene’s Basement, with a judge’s approval, actually added “non-Filene’s Basement merchandise, of like kind and quality” to the sale, according to its website.