Which NY Filene's to visit in a day trip?

[teddieriley]

Hearing about Filene's extensively on this board, I thought I'd visit the store during a day trip to Manhattan on a trip to Philly, along with visits to Century 21, Santoni, C&J, and JM Weston.

I noticed on the website there are 3 Manhattan locations - Broadway, Avenue of the Americas, and Union Square. Assuming I only had time to visit one or two, which one(s) would be worth my time? I'm basically looking for dress pants, sweaters, dress shirts, shoes, etc.

Generally speaking, is Filene's inventory seasonal, meaning I will find mostly summer type clothing, or would now be a decent time to find fall/winter clothing as well?

Additionally if you also happen to have any other suggestions where I can get nice wears for less than retail, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[choya]

none of them are all that hot, but the union square one is the biggest. plus it might have some barney's run off. i think in their nice stuff you'll probably see a lot of spring/summer stuff, but then they also carry a lot of calvin klein, kenneth cole, etc. that will be in season. i think the loehman's on 18 street is a better bet then any of them - last time i went they had a ton of theory, cornelliani, armani, and boss. some cool brands that were new to me too, like farhi, which i liked.

century puts every place else to shame deal wise. if you can grit your teeth and dig through the racks for a couple hours, it pretty much always pays off in me experience.

 

[Edward Appleby]

Like choya said, C21 is the place where you'll find a real diamond in the rough. FB is more about reliably finding good deals (as opposed to occaisionally finding great deals.)

 

[Tomasso]

Don't forget Daffy's and Loehmann's.

 

[Sator]

I recently went to the Union Square FB. I was rather dissappointed except for some nice Luciano Barbera ties I picked up and felt that FB in Boston was vastly superior when it came to suits.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Union Square is bigger but I've also found some bargains at the Broadway store--which is across the street from Zabars.