Filene's

Filene's (originally Filene’s Sons and Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts was supplemented by the foundation of its off-price sister store Filene's Basement in 1908. Filene's, in partnership with Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, and Shillito's, was an original member of the holding company Federated Department Stores upon its establishment in 1929.
Filene's expanded into shopping malls throughout New England and New York in the later half of the twentieth century, and was rivaled by fellow Boston-based department store Jordan Marsh. Federated sold Filene's to The May Department Stores Company, and spun off Filene's Basement into a separate company, in 1988. With this reorganization, the Filene's nameplate replaced the Hartford-based G. Fox in 1992 and Steiger's in 1994; the store assumed control of the Pittsburgh-based department store chain Kaufmann's in 2002.
May itself was ultimately acquired by Federated in 2005; the Filene's brand was retired and most stores were converted into the Federated-owned, Cincinnati-based Macy's nameplate by September 2006. Federated itself was renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007. The former Filene's flagship store at Downtown Crossing in Boston is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; its current tenants include advertising agencies Arnold Worldwide and Havas Media, and fast fashion retailer Primark.
== See also ==
* Filene's Basement
Category:Defunct department stores
Category:Defunct Mall Retailers
Category:Defunct retailers
Category:Retailers by type
Category:Retailers
Category:Department stores
Category:Discount stores
Category:Macy's
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands
Category:North America
Category:USA