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William Filene established his famous Boston apparel store in 1881. This family-owned business prospered for many years,
and eventually grew into the large Filene's department store chain. Filene's Basement, the
discount outlet, began operating in the basement of the flagship
downtown Boston store in 1909.
Filene's Basement can be considered the first modern
off-price store
in history. The original purpose of the basement outlet was to sell
excess merchandise from the large department store above. The concept was so successful that manufacturers and other
retailers soon began selling merchandise directly to the basement outlet.
The Washington Street Tunnel (part of today's Orange Line) opened on
December 1, 1908. A predecessor Filene's building was located at the
south corner of Washington &
Winter Streets. A Filene's entrance was built inside the new subway station that connected the
department
store directly with the transit system.
The Filene's subway entrance was magnificent; with a
beautiful illuminated stained-glass peacock's tail embedded in the floor.
Above the glass floor was a mirrored ceiling, which created a gorgeous effect
that was compared to a Tiffany lamp.
The December 1, 1908 Boston
Globe specifically describes the remodeled basement of the old 453 Washington Street
building:
"This new basement floor was opened yesterday as a big
Christmas bazaar to accommodate the throngs of holiday shoppers and to make
selection easy. Overflow Christmas departments have been established here
together with booths containing miscellaneous articles of Filene dependable
quality. There are booths filled with many things suitable for girls. The
articles in one booth are all of one price, those in the next booth of
another price, etc. When purchased, these articles are all put up in very
attractive special green holiday boxes. The use of the as an overflow
Christmas department is only a temporary use as Filene's have other plans
for this portion of their establishment which will later be announced."
According to a Filene's advertisement in the April 15,
1920 Boston Globe, the discount basement outlet had officially
opened on January 9, 1909. It was initially called the Tunnel Bargain
Basement. A revolutionary price discount system was implemented
in the store, of which items were automatically marked down in price after
specific periods of time.
A novel incentive was also developed by William Filene's son, Edward. If a customer discovered a misrepresentation in any advertisement,
sign, or tag, a $5 reward (as well as other prizes), was offered to
the first person to report it. Such incentives guaranteed that
the automatic mark-down system in the Bargain Basement would always be
up-to-date.
The original concept of the basement outlet is described
in a
September 9, 1909 Boston Globe Filene's ad:
"Tunnel Bargain Basement. Come In From The Tunnel
Trains — Winter St. Station.
Filene's stands for new, successful, and daring
methods in distribution of merchandise on a large scale at retail.
And this Tunnel Bargain basement, with its Automatic
Price Reductions week by week—among other extraordinary innovations—is the
latest chapter in the story of Filene's Stores.
The scientific distribution of the necessaries of life is
good business.
But when it reduces the cost of living in thousands of
families, when it lessons or removes the drudgery of making clothes in the
home by bringing down the cost of clothes ready to wear to a point where it
is cheaper to buy than to make them, then the store that succeeds in doing
this is also doing a large and genuine public service.
And this is what Filene's Tunnel Bargain Basement is
doing today. This announcement will tell you something about how we do it. A
better Way is to find out yourself. Walk through the Tunnel Bargain Basement
every day you are in town. Make it a habit to get out at the Winter Street
Station of the Tunnel and come through the Filene's Tunnel Entrance on the
way to other engagements. Just walk through Filene's—and see."
On September 3, 1912, Filene's moved across the street to
the famous 426 Washington Street building. The basement outlet then became known
as the Automatic Bargain Basement. The photograph above is of
an attractive display window of the 426 Washington Street
building in the subway station below.
In 2005, the Filene's department store chain was
absorbed into Macy's, and Filene's Basement is an independent retail
chain.
426 Washington Street
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