direction of company president Edward Filene, Filene's opened its famous "Automatic Bargain Basement" in 1909, which became a much-visited tourist attraction. The concept of the bargain basement was not new (Marshall Field's created the first in 1879), but Filene's basement was well lit and decorated ostentatiously. The basement had its own staff which bought surplus, factory clearances, overstock, or closeout merchandise - Filene boasted that he had once sold more than 7,000 pairs of woolen underwear during two July days. Goods were marked down according to an automatic schedule; an item that had been on sale for 12 days was marked down by 25 percent, after 18 days by 50 percent, after 24 days by 75 percent, and after 30 days it was given away. Ninety percent of goods sold in the basement were purchased within the first 12 days of sale. Filene's Basement was separately owned and operated by Retail Ventures, Inc. until 2009 when it was sold to Buxbaum Group, a liquidation company. The Filene's Basement stores were not affected by the Filene's/Macy's merger. However, in 2007, the original Filene's Basement location was closed while the old Filene's building was being gutted and rebuilt. At the time of the closing, the store was expected to relocate back into its basement space in 2010; however, the Filene's Basement company began its third Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011, liquidating and permanently closing all of its stores in December 2011. See also Downtown Crossing, shopping district in which its flagship store was located Jordan Marsh, another Boston-based department store chain acquired by Federated and replaced by Macy's List of defunct department stores of the United States Edward Filene References External links Official Filene's website (Archive) Magazine article (1912) about the architecture of Filene's Boston Public Library. Filene’s Marketing Archives 1881 establishments in Massachusetts 2006 disestablishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 1881 Retail companies established in 1881 Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in Boston Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Defunct department stores based in Massachusetts Macy's May Department Stores