Filene’s Basement is going downtown — and upscale.
The century-old clothing chain — which narrowly escaped liquidation as it filed for Chapter 11 this week — has a new owner that’s gunning for big metro markets like Manhattan as it looks to sell more luxury goods at rock-bottom prices.
As the economy swoons, pricey stores like Saks, Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York are facing mountains of unsold designer clothes, shoes and handbags.
While Filene’s Basement has long specialized in delivering luxury cast-offs, its new owners will angle for ever-bigger chunks of that inventory, said New York real-estate mogul Stanley Chera.
“When top-tier stores have trouble selling merchandise, that helps us pick up the pieces,” Chera told The Post. “We think it’s a tremendous opportunity — people are more bargain-conscious now, and we think that’s a trend that’s going to continue.”
Chera’s firm, Crown Acquisitions, is partnering with Chetrit Group to buy Filene’s Basement for $22 million. Under the deal, Crown will buy 17 of the company’s 26 stores. While it has scant experience operating retail companies, Crown plans to hire “top talent” to run the chain, Chera said.
A key problem for Filene’s Basement — which is on its second trip to bankruptcy court since 1999 — was that it strayed from its core, city-dwelling customers, he said.
“The weakest stores they had were in the suburbs,” Chera said. “These are stores that belong in big-city, high-traffic shopping areas.”
Accordingly, Crown and Chetrit will inject $25 million into the company to beef up inventory and marketing for stores like the flagship on Union Square.
Meanwhile, Crown and Chetrit are in talks to possibly open a Filene’s Basement on the Upper East Side, according to one source familiar with the matter.