Running of the Brides to go on

The brides’ race will go on
Sale to boast more brands
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets


Filene’s Basement’s Running of the Brides - the first in Boston since the chain emerged from bankruptcy under new ownership - is set for next week.

The typically frenzied bridal gown sale will be held Friday, Aug. 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hynes Convention Center. And it’s likely the semiannual event will be held there for the foreseeable future, since Basement operator Syms Corp. has been unable to find a space to resurrect a Downtown Crossing store.

Brides-to-be can expect two changes under Syms, the off-price New Jersey retailer that bought the Basement for $62.4 million in June. First, the sale will feature many new labels on the $249, $499 and $699 bridal gowns that originally retailed for $900 to $10,000.

“Given the bankruptcy, we weren’t doing any kind of buying of merchandise at all,” spokeswoman Patricia Boudrot said. “So, all of a sudden, the (merchandise) buyer had to scramble, and she did a great job and made a lot of new contacts.”

Syms CEO Marcy Syms, who attended her first Running of the Brides in Washington, D.C., last month, suggested the second simple change: sturdier hangers.

“It’s a weight-appropriate hanger, because the gowns are very heavy and long,” Syms said. “I noticed right away that, because of the number of gowns that were pulled from a rolling rack at any given time I heard hangers snap, and I saw people having to hold the hangers together.”

The Running of the Brides will be the fourth at the Hynes since the Downtown Crossing store closed in 2007. The store was scheduled to reopen this year, but the Filene’s block redevelopment has been delayed by financing woes. And Syms has been unable to find another location.

“There don’t seem to be any existing locations that are appropriate in terms of size and access and closeness to the trains,” she said, including the former Barnes & Noble on Washington Street. “It’s a very old building, and there are many issues with it for us in terms of what it would take to format a Filene’s Basement.”
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