Syms buys Filene's Basement
Filene's Basement will remain open at Baltimore's Inner Harbor now that Syms has been approved as a buyer by a bankruptcy court judge, according to a story by Andrea Walker.
The deal could be approved as early as Thursday, her story states, and they are keeping their assets including employees --- good news for anyone who was dreading the unemployment line.
But Syms wouldn't comment on the deal, so we're left to speculate about what this will mean. I've got two questions:
1. Are this store and other Filene's Basement locations going to remain branded as Filene's, or will they morph into Syms? I know people are fiercely loyal to their favorite off-price/discount retailers -- preferring Marshalls over T.J.Maxx, for example, even when they are owned by the same company.
2. Why is Syms expanding in its holdings in Baltimore, when they just closed the Syms store in Towson? Andrea points out it's a different location with a different following, but it surprised me.
(photo: Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
