Filene’s Basement, whose tagline is “Where Bargains Were Born,” has a long Hub history:

1909 — Edward Filene opens “bargain basement” store Jan. 4 to sell excess merchandise from father’s Filene’s department store upstairs.

1919 — Basement turns first profit.

1933 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son John works as a stock boy in the Basement.

1937 — First Men’s $11 Suit Sale held.

1940 — Designs by Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli shipped in from war-torn Europe.

1947 — Basement mobbed at first bridal gown sale, giving birth to “Running of the Brides” phenomenon.

1956 — Edward Filene inducted into Merchant’s Hall of Fame in Chicago, credited with “automatic markdown” sale system.

1972 — Basement replaces center staircase with escalators.

1986 — Boston native Barbara Walters gushes about the Basement on ABC’s “20/20.”

1988 — 22-store Basement chain splits from Filene’s in $6.4 billion May Department Stores takeover.

1990 — Basement becomes tourist attraction, drawing up to 20,000 shoppers daily.

1991 — Store installs first women’s fitting room, but shoppers still try on clothes in the aisles.

1999 — 55-store Basement files for bankruptcy, citing fierce competition.

2005 — Macy’s owner Federated Department Stores buys May for $17 billion, phases out Filene’s brand.

2007 — Flagship Filene’s Basement closes to make way for Downtown Crossing redevelopment.

2009 — Owner Retail Ventures closes 11 of 36 stores, sells company to liquidator Buxbaum Group; chain later files for bankruptcy, auctioned off to Syms Corp. for $62 million, teamed with Downtown Crossing landlord Vornado Realty Trust.

2010 — “Voices from the Basement” documentary film premiers at Omni Parker House, airs on WGBH-TV.

2011 — Basement files third bankruptcy plan to liquidate remaining 21 stores by early 2012.

Source: Filene’s Basement; Herald research

— COMPILED BY GREG TURNER