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Daily Pulse

Brides to run no more at Filene’s Basement

David Brancaccio Nov 2, 2011

There’s news today that there will be no more “Running Of The Brides” and it has the Marketplace Daily Pulse running on borrowed air today.

The 102-year-old Filene’s Basement, best known for its annual wedding dress sale, is going out of business. The pioneer of discount retail famously trained its customers to come back often as unsold clothes got marked down automatically.

Since 2009, it’s been owned by Syms Corp., which is also going to retail heaven.

Filene’s Basement has gone bankrupt before, but this time it’s for real and not just a protection from creditors. Cheap competition from regular department stores was killing the discounter. The company said 1,600 employees will lose their jobs after a round of holiday sales.

PHOTO: Brides participate in the “Running of the Brides” at Filene’s Basement on May 20, 2011 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

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