April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Filene’s Basement, the century-old clothing chain, may seek bankruptcy protection this week, according to two people with knowledge of the plan.

A filing may come as early as tomorrow, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. There are several parties interested in buying assets out of bankruptcy, one person said.

This would be the second filing in a decade for Filene’s Basement, which reported declining sales last year as consumers besieged by rising job losses and shrinking home values cut back on non-necessities such as its discounted designer goods.

Former owner Retail Ventures Inc. said April 21 that it transferred the unit to Buxbaum Group, a company that appraises and liquidates assets, for no proceeds. Filene’s Basement hired Alan Cohen, chairman of Abacus Advisors, to help restructure.

FB II Acquisition, the Buxbaum affiliate formed to acquire Filene’s Basement, said in a statement last week that it was reviewing “all available” options for the chain.

Mariellen Burns, a spokeswoman for Filene’s Basement, declined to comment. Buxbaum referred queries to Filene’s.

Retail Ventures, based in Columbus, Ohio, said in January it would close 11 of Filene’s Basement’s 36 stores and “aggressively” renegotiate terms on the remaining leases. Filene’s Basement’s sales fell 9.5 percent to $422 million in the year ended Jan. 31.

Edward Filene opened his Boston bargain basement in 1909 to clear out merchandise from his family’s department store, according to the company’s Web site.

Filene’s Basement filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 1999, and was bought by a predecessor of Retail Ventures the following year. Retail Ventures also owns the DSW shoe chain.

Buxbaum, based in Agoura Hills, California, is a liquidator and appraiser of retail and wholesale inventories, and provides turnaround, expansion and other consulting services.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Keehner in New York jkeehner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 27, 2009 16:57 EDT