Filene's, in partnership with Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, and Shillito's, was an original member of the holding company Federated Department Stores upon its establishment in 1929.

Filene's expanded into shopping malls throughout New England and New York in the later half of the twentieth century, and was rivaled by fellow Boston-based department store Jordan Marsh.

May itself was ultimately acquired by Federated in 2005; the Filene's brand was retired and most stores were converted into the Federated-owned, Cincinnati-based Macy's nameplate by September 2006.

The former Filene's flagship store at Downtown Crossing in Boston is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; its current tenants include advertising agencies Arnold Worldwide and Havas Media, and fast fashion retailer Primark.

By 1929 Filene's expanded the main building, converting the block around Washington, Summer, Hawley and Franklin streets into one department store.

In 2002 Filene's assumed operational control of the Kaufmann's stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and western New York state.

[12] Upon receiving approval from shareholders that Federated itself be renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007, then-CEO Terry Lundgren admitted that business was struggling from "[having thrown] a lot of change on the May company stores very quickly.

Surprisingly, though many Bostonians felt a sense of loss, the public did not protest the closing, unlike that of Marshall Field's in Chicago, and Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh.

[15] Earlier that year, Irish fast fashion retailer Primark announced that they would open their first location in the United States in the since-renamed Burnham Building.

[11] The four-level, 77,000 sq ft (7,200 m2) flagship store opened in September 2015,[16] a mural inspired by the Filene's origin of the building was installed on the second floor.

The basement had its own staff which bought surplus, factory clearances, overstock, or closeout merchandise - Filene boasted that he had once sold more than 7,000 pairs of woolen underwear during two July days.