DANVERS, Mass.--Federated's off-price outfit, Filene's Basement, will replace its nofrill look with high-tech drama as the chain gears up to expand into new markets this year.
The Dry Goods has experimented with other variations on its basic operation in recent years: trying to do without domestics and housewares in one unit and also testing an enclosed specialty shop within the main store called Signature Place, which featured higher-priced women's designer apparel. Signature Place has been dropped and in the new unit, domestics and housewares are back.Women scoured a circular rack signed I. Magnin and came away with anything from a Magnin-label polyester blouse for $20 to a Mario Valentio suede culotte tagged by Magnin at $650, price by Filene's Basement for $120.The "second-generation" stores are the 11 units that were opened from 1978 to October 1983 in suburban Massachusetts, Long Island, Queens, N.Y., and West Hartford, Conn. Those stores feature more circular racks and wall shelving for men's shirts, but have bare floors and follow a nofrill approach to presentation.Gully said The Dry Goods would open no more new stores this year and that he'd have to wait until next spring to decide which, if any, of the display changes could be used in other stores.Track lights shining on huge fashion photos, gray carpets with bold red stripes, an exposed ceiling painted gray or black, and massive signing lettered in black and red create the backdrop for bargain-hunting in the Filene's Basement stores that opened last October here and in Dedham, Mass.The upshot is an appearance little akin to that of its sister stores, while the merchandise is identical and the apparel discounting concept uncharged, Gully said.A banner running high along the outer walls of the 20,000 sq. ft. used for selling space in Danvers underscores the off-price them: "Boston's famous marketdown store. Save 20% to 50% on designer and prestigious labels." Similar signing serves as a lead-in to the store, and even more signs naming labels such as Calvin Klein, Sasson Charles Jourdan and Valentino hang from pipes over the traffic aisle.The revamped Filene's Basement stores "will serve as the vehicle to establish Federated in the off-price arena," explained New England zone manager Charles Naff, who oversees all but four of the chain's 14 units. (Federated's other off-price chain is the Childrens Place/Childrens Outlet.SCOA Industries, which does not break out results for The Dry Goods separate from its other retail divisions, reported a 3.9% decline in net profits to $26.8 million on a 1.9% gain in sales to $439.2 million for the quarter ended Jan. 26. For the year net profit declined 1.9% to $41 million on a 9.1% gain in sales to $1.424 billion.Gully does not expect the new look here in Cherry Hill to alter the standard Dry Goods dollar sales mix, which is roughly 40% in ladies', 20% in men's 20% in children's and 20% in domestics and housewares."We have to go through at least one Christmas season to see the customer reaction," he said.The third-generation stores were unveiled last October in two locations formerly occupied by Dayton Hudson's Lechmere stores. When the hard lines specialty chain was reformated with a more limited mix, 35,000 sq. ft. at danvers and 30,000 sq. ft. at Dedham were walled off and leased to Filene's Basement.in Danvers, shoppers roll carts along a black tiled race track; low-hanging red ceiling pipes mark off the traffic aisle from above. Most bargain-hungry Filene's Basement shoppers waste no time moving into the carpeted departments to get a closer look at "nearly perfect" wool blazers by Jones N.Y. priced at $60, Guy Laroche silk dresses tagged at $120 or Nicole Miller rayon dress for $95.
Filene's Basement stores offer men's, women's and children's clothing, shoes, jewelry and some home decor items including figurines, vases and frame prints.
Author: Karen Paxton
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