Filene’s Basement

So sorry to see they’ve closed the DC stores. I personally still like to touch an item before I purchase it. Since the internet reduces the overhead of real estate expenses, make sure your site is capable of providing graphics.

CLOSED??? A discount store closes in a bad economy? That really doesn’t compute. I may as well drink the poison now.

This business permanently closed all locations at the end of 2011.

I think they have a decent selection and the prices are reasonable. The fitting room ladies are b*tchy, but everyone else seems friendly enough. I’ve spoken with sales reps on the floor and though they don’t seem particularly knowledgeable about the merchandise, they’re always as helpful as they can be. I asked for 10% off an umbrella that was damaged but functional and the cashier gave it to me without batting an eye.

so-​so selection, decent prices, good location, indifferent customer service. three stars in my book.
let me say first and foremost that i can only comment on the men’s clothing selection. i’ve never paid attention to jewelry, women’t clothes, or whatever else they have here. i’ve never set foot in the basement, so they could have jimmy hoffa propped up in a zoot suit for all i know. so take that into account.
i have faithfully bought almost all of my basics (e.g., socks, white t’s, etc.) at this filene’s for years. prices are pretty rock bottom and i have to admit, i really don’t enjoy paying for those items very much, so that rock bottom price tag suited me just fine.
if you’re looking for a steal on upper-​end stuff, this place is very hit and miss. much more miss than hit, i’d say. i snagged a pair of $ 200 BCBG pants once for $ 20. i also remember buying $ 150 kenneth cole shoes for about the same price. but i’d give this filene’s about a 5% track record in terms of deals of that magnitude. so yeah, i’d go 19 times and get nothing (except those white t’s and socks) and then the next time, BAMMO, super score.
it’s practically on top of the farragut north metro, which makes it very handy.
i never build my day around a stop at filene’s, but when i’m in the neighborhood and/​or all my socks have holes in them, i head over.

I was told this was THE place to get everything you need so I took a $ 10 cab to this area from my hotel and WAS SO DISAPPOINTED! The selection here is crap. It was a complete waste of time. My goodness… if this is THE place to shop in DC, I could never move here.

I used to be a fan of this store. Unfortunately since the merger with Syms the quality is poor. We have had defective shoes, dress shirts, luggage and a jacket. Save your money and shop elsewhere.
Filenes Basement and their parent, Syms is going out of business. Beware that the company conducting the bankruptcy has brought in a lot of extra — not «typical» Filenes goods. You have to hunt through a lot of «garbage» to find things worth buying — even at 40% off. It’s a shame that a once good business was destroyed.

This place is a disaster, Less you think I am some snob above shopping at Filene’s Basement, I was a regular at one in CT before they closed it down and recently shopped at one in the ‘burbs north of Boston. This one is far more Goodwill-​esque looking inside than any Filene’s Basement I have been to in the northeast. It’s like the staff just piled heaps of crap around and left it for the vultures to circle around. I unfortunately went there during lunch hour-​MISTAKE! Those ladies were assaulting the clothing racks. Once 1 pm came around the crowds subsided and it was more tolerable.
After combing through rack after rack, I didn’t find one thing in the joint that I found appealing. Curiously enough, I noticed most of the women in there were really skinny or really fat. Good news for us average sized girls! There were plenty of sizes 8, 10, and 12 pants and tops. If I went back, it would be for accessories only-​they had a nice selection of scarves, handbags, etc.

Filene’s Basement is probably the most «upper-​class» of the discount merchandise chain stores (Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Loehmann’s, etc.) and its gold-​plated location on Connecticut Avenue near all of the other high-​priced boutiques (PINK, Burberry…) would lend itself to my theory. This isn’t your run-​of-​the-​mill «throw anything wherever you want» Filene’s… the salesmen wear suits; honest-​to-​goodness suits, and the women aren’t dressed like they just came from a tractor pull. The clothes are well-​organized on the racks and the store is clean. There are a few reasons why I really like this store, and a few others why I could do without it. First, the pros:
— Clean, well-​lit, easy-​to-​find merchandise makes shopping here easy and enjoyable.
— The elevator is awesome: one of those early 20^th century types that could fit an entire busload of Mexicans and still have enough room for the elevator operator and his trainees. Although there is no operator, and the ride is quite slow, it’s worth a trip to the store just to see this enormous elevator.
— Great selection of ties, suits, and underwear.
— The prices on most items are 50−80% off what you would pay in a retail store like Macy’s or Nordstrom.
Cons:
— Most of the time, the salespeople suck. There are exceptions, but they aren’t friendly, they aren’t knowledgeable, and they give you a really hard time if you want to try on anything that isn’t packaged. Just tell them you’ve «done it before» and you should be fine.
— Expect to search hard to find a small (or even a medium). Most of the items you want will be Ls, XLs, and XXLs. Keep looking, though, you may get lucky.
— It closes at 5pm on Sundays… I know that most places do, but during the summer, when the sun goes down at 8:30, it seems foolish to close 3 hours before dusk.
Bottom line: Shop here for a discount, but expect discount customer service. You may be pleasantly surprised with both.

Oddly enough, I’m a big fan of this Filene’s. There are some obvious personal reasons why, I live 3 blocks away, and I’m a guy. These 2 seemingly small things make shopping here alot more pleasurable.
I know the layout of the store pretty well and I was able to walk in, pick up 4 white dress shirts, a pack of white t shirts, and a Calvin Klein suit, all in under 30 minutes and for less than $ 350 bucks. Suits were also 25% off on my visit so that helps quite a bit.
Customer service is lacking at this and most Filene’s Basements, particularly around closing time, however, the prices make up for this lapse. If you know what you want when you walk in, things are pretty much easy, and when you wear a standard 40R suit and look for 16.5×32÷33 dress shirts, you should have no problems.
My fiancée had a bit more hassle finding things in the ladies section but came away with a pretty cool top for work for cheap.

A DC trip is not complete until you buy something at Filene’s Basement.
I have been looking for a short trench for years… years! I found it.
I lovely, black, perfect length DKNY classic belted trench with back slit for $ 79.00. (Orig $ 215) What a deal! I can stop looking now… Thanks Filene’s!

My buggage got lost and needed extra dress shirt, I was in the area and saw the big sign. Filene’s saved my day.
Store clarks were helpful. Sure most marchandizes were not so updated, but who cares my white shirt only costed less than $ 20. Saving money and having good dinner and drink count more (at least for me)

I really have to remind myself not to come here again. Despite it being the one of the bigger stores in the area that sells clothes.
It’s a frustrating sort of place. You really need a lot of patience to dig through all their junk, and it literally feels like a basement where lots of random stuff just gets piled up. Most of their items are large and not really trendy for those in your 20s. I mean, you may find something you like, but probably not. I went in there looking for work clothes and party dresses, but came out with nothing.
The prices aren’t that cheap. I would rather go to a place more organized and have more clothing in small and medium sizes, and not felt that I wasted an hour of my life trying to filter through everything. Definitely a hit or miss. But mostly a miss.

I can’t stand this place. Yes they have really good prices on some items ($ 300 Rock and Republics for $ 129, lots of good deals on BCBG). But the place is SUCH a hassle, between finding sizes, styles, someone to help, trying on, etc. The fitting rooms are SUPER small and cramped, it’s almost smarter to buy, try on at home, and return.
The employees are really disinterested, and some outright rude. So many times I’ve just walked out (and away from said R&Rs) because it’s annoying and not worth it. I’d rather pay a little more and not have to deal with it.

Why haven’t I heard of this place before?! It’s probably best described as a more upscale mini-Marshall’s. I found most of the men’s dress clothes to be about 30% more than what you would pay at Marshalls ($ 59 for Hickey Freeman shirts, $ 39 for Hart Schaffner Marx shirt). The difference is that it feels more like shopping in a regular store with some sense of organization. Sizes were hit or miss but you at least knew where to look for a particular color/​style.
By signing up for the email list, I received 15% off at the register and when I got home, another 15% coupon was in my inbox. I think you get two a year, so if you shop for the two male fashion seasons (cold and hot), this would work for you.
Nothing in the sales racks were either in my size or something that I would ever want to buy. Good for dress clothes, but don’t expect it to be a one-​stop shop.

I’ll admit it… after hearing about Filene’s Basement for the past year, I became curious. The economy is in the tank, I’m unemployed, and shopping is shopping, right?
Not really.
There’s a central problem with Filene’s Basement: Anything that’s nice –that you would actually purchase from a regular store– isn’t marked down enough. However, the items that are really cheap are things you would never buy at full price (a.k.a. they’re outdated or hideous).
Maybe there are a few items that contradict this conundrum, but not many. The only thing that seemed like a steal were leather gloves with cashmere lining for $ 30. They’re practically the same gloves sold at every major retailer (Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, etc), for a third of the price.
I appreciate how Filene’s Basement organizes products by designer and was impressed by some of the brands they carry. However, if they carried a good designer (Prada bags, Theory, J Brand jeans), the products were too expensive or the worst thing they ever made. There’s something odd about buying a $ 1500 purple Prada bag at a discount store, even if it retails for $ 2000.

JaaaaaaaShopping Paradise!
Hier kann man mal ohne weiteres die Kreditkarte glühen lassen.
Im gegensatz zu Deutschland gibt es einige Geschäfte in den USA, welche Restbestände von bekannten Desigern und Marken aufkaufen, und dies in Ihren Läden nach satten Prozenten weiter an den Mann bringen wollen.
Neben den bekanntesten wie Ross und TJ Max gibt es Filenes Basement. Im unterschied zu den ersten beiden, herrscht bei Filenes eher Kaufhausamtosphäre.
Unterteilt in Männermode, Damendmode und Accesoires findet man hier Klamotten von z.B. Calvin Klein, Puma, Victorinox, Armani, 7 Jeans und viele weitere bekannte Modemarken.
Man findet wirklich immer etwas zu einem günstigen Preis! Aber nicht die Zollfreigrenze vergessen :-)

I hate discount clothes stores. It doesn’t really make sense though. I love getting good deals, but there is nothing more frustrating to me then sifting through tons of racks of crap to find the good stuff. Usually I just go shopping at these places with my sister-​in-​law who loves to dig through it and show me the best items.
The only thing that I love discount stores for is the shoe section. I have abnormal sized feet so usually there is a huge selection for me, but this particular Filene’s was lacking in that department. Maybe it was just a bad time overall for shoes? I don’t know, but I was disappointed.
As for the clothing areas I couldn’t handle going through racks and probably won’t go back for that. If my sister-​in-​law ever comes to town, though, this would be a place she loves!

I was discussing this place with Jim at the Unilocal event at Panache, and we agreed that at least you could always find a pair of socks you like here.
I don’t think the prices are a whole lot lower than a place like Macy’s. And since Macy’s is always having sales, they pretty much even out on price. If you’re a woman, you might find something you like here (I haven’t looked, but I know places like these usually cater more towards women). If you’re a man… well, good luck. Boring, boring looking suits. I’ve seen some nice casual shirts, but nothing that screamed «BUY ME!!!»
The last time I was in here was because I had forgotten (yet again) my umbrella at home. You’d think even a place like this would stock a basic black umbrella by Totes or Isotoner. Ha ha. The «umbrella section» consisted of those microumbrellas that only work when it’s misty out. And did I neglect to mention they had just the cutest, most precious colors here? I grabbed the least-​feminine looking umbrella and beat feet in retreat. It’s still on my doorknob at home, reminding me to always bring the other umbrella to work.
The verdict: I can’t really speak to the women’s selection for obvious reasons. For men, well… you can always get a nice pair of socks here.

I am a bargain basement shopper, no lie. When you’ve got a shopping addiction and a salary like mine, you have to be. But I still can’t say that I like Filene’s. In fact, I strongly dislike it.
Yet I still find myself in there about once a month. I keep trying to give it a chance because it’s so freaking convenient and it just keeps letting me down. I usually browse the main floor (men’s and accessories) and can’t muster up the strength to go downstairs– it’s just too much. Even the designer stuff they have looks crappy. Their actual clothing is often torn or missing a button and it just seems cheaply made to me. Like it’s all rejects from the JC Penney’s juniors department. Ick. (and as I said, I’m not being snobby, TJ Maxx is one of my most favorite stores of all time!)
One additional star because they do sometimes have great hosiery. Sometimes.

Being that I am from Boston, I was so excited to be walking down Connecticut Avenue and to see a Filene’s! For those who haven’t been to the «orginal» Filene’s, they mark down items by 25%increments the longer an item remains in the store.
You’ll find men’s, women’s and kid’s clothes here in addition to shoes, bedding, jewelry, and fragrances. Usually, Filene’s features «high end» designer stuff like Prada and D&G. Don’t expect neat racks and shelves, Filene’s stores are certainly no nonsense and you’ll have to do some hunting to find the diamonds among the coal here.
My last trip here I found a pair of Prada shoes that were marked down to $ 10!