Syms and Filene's Basement closing

Discount retailer Syms Corp. and its subsidiary Filene's Basement have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plan to liquidate operations during the coming holiday shopping season.

Bloomberg News reported that the company plans said in its filing that it will conduct going-out-of-business sales before Black Friday, the beginning of the U.S. holiday shopping season. Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday, falls on Nov. 25 this year.

The Secaucus-based company listed assets of $236 million, including $97.7 million in real estate inventories, and liabilities of $94 million, according to a statement filed with the Chapter 11 petition Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Bloomberg News said.

Syms, which operates 21 stores under Filene's Basement and 25 under its namesake brand in the U.S., said it received no "viable bids" from anyone willing to operate the business. There are five Syms stores in New York, including one on Merrick Avenue in Westbury. There are six Filene's Basement operations in New York, including one on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset and another on Merrick Avenue in Westbury.

Syms acquired Filene's Basement out of bankruptcy protection in the spring of 2009 for $62.4 million, but had struggled to turn the chain around.

Sy Syms who established his discount name-brand clothing business in Manhattan's Financial District in 1959, died in November 2009. His company's slogan was and still is "An educated consumer is our best customer."

His daughter, Marcy Syms, who is chief executive, said in statement on Wednesday that increased competition from department stores, private label discounters and the economic downturn weighed on the companies. She says the bankruptcy filing and a planned liquidation was considered the best way to maximize value for shareholders.