On The Return Of Filene's Basement

Filene's Basement on Connecticut downtown was one of my most favorite places of all time to go on a lunch break.  Then the company went bankrupt and sold all its stuff and closed all its stores and took a long nap.  Now it's back, solely online.  I don't have my own PACER account, so I can't look at the bankruptcy filings, but I betcha what happened is somebody bought the marks and trade dress to relaunch it without the retail-space rent overhead. 

The website is an honest reflection of what Filene's always was.  Random stock, only gently curated, not well-presented, but with value everywhere--like TJ Maxx without the vertigo.  The shoe brands are in the same market level as always: Italianate names with prices at long last reflecting their actual value instead of a brand-based markup.  The selection of suits is completely random.  Some poor sod is having to take pictures of the suit jackets on a mannequin and use the lasso tool in Photoshop to make a cutout.  It's very eBay at the moment.  Greater things to come, I'm sure, if they can capitalize on the goodwill.  Meanwhile, the inability to try things on is a drag.

And they only have a few dozen ties.  In my day, they had millions of ties.  Millions, I tell you!  Kids these days.  No respect.

To The Members Of My Fantasy Football League

These socks are lavender colored.

For the rest of you: Socks from Dapper Classics, white bucs from Johnston & Murphy; blue seersucker suit from JAB for one seventh of list price.