Filene's Biggest (Liquidation) Sale Ever

As we all know, Filene’s Department store has been bought by Federated Department Stores this past year, which means that it’s currently on its way out of town. While there are weekly rumors that a Target or Wal-Mart will be plopped into this Downtown Crossing real estate, Filene’s is currently closing up shop with a good ol’ clearance sale. Being the savvy shopper that we are, Bostonist just had to go and check it out yesterday after work. The sale began on January 29th so we were fully prepared for some of the empty shelves and picked over racks. We know how Bostonians enjoy a good sale; however we weren’t expecting the sadness of it all. While we were surrounded by haggling women wanting another 10% off a scarf that was already 60% off the regular price, it was depressing to see Filene’s down to the bare bones, including a staff that we assume will be out of work soon. We shuffled around for a while and found the best deals in the housewares section on the top floor. If you’re on the hunt for a new coffeemaker, Fiestaware, bedding, or picture frames, you should head over to Filene’s today. (Just remember that all sales are final and there are no returns. While the prices are discounted 30-50%, a Bostonist friend pointed out that the usual sales with coupons were an even better deal.) Bostonist was quite tempted to splurge on the already reduce priced “As seen on TV” Magic Bullet food processor, but with a reduced price of $55.00, we’ll wait until they are literally giving them away.

In other retailing news, it seems that the Boston area will finally be home to the Seattle based department store, Nordstrom’s. With its amazing return policy and great customer service, Nordstrom’s has been a Bostonist favorite for a while and we’ve planned treks down to Providence for their semi-annual sales. According to their site, Nordstrom’s will be opening up shop in the expanded section of the Natick Mall in Spring 2007; it was released last week that they’re also interested in opening up stores in Braintree, Burlington, and Peabody as well by 2010. Hopefully by that time, Bostonist will have the income to actually purchase things full price there.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com/user: LeLuMus