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The Boscov's Logo
Boscov's Inc. is a family-owned department store with 51 locations in Pennsylvania, Northeastern United States. Most stores are located in Pennsylvania. The company chairman is Albert Boscov, who took over after his uncle Albert Boscov retired. Corporate headquarters are in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania.
The Boscov's In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
History[]
Solomon "Sol" Boscov was of Jewish descent. He immigrated from Russia to Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1911. He had $1.37 in cash on arrival in the United States. He worked as a traveling salesman with an initial $8 worth of merchandise. Because he spoke Yiddish, he was able to converse with people in Berks County who spoke Pennsylvania Dutch. Boscov's fortunes changed in 1914 when he opened the first Boscov's store at 9th and Pike streets in Reading. Boscov's began expanding in the Pennsylvania suburbs during the 1960s. By 1968, Boscov's had five stores, 2,200 workers, and annual sales exceeding $50 million. Solomon Boscov retired and was succeeded by his son Albert "Albie" Boscov as head of the company in 1960. He bought Fowler, Dick and Walker, the Boston Store in 1980. One of Wilkes-Barre's last remaining downtown department stores, it was also Boscov's first multi-story store. Boscov's first entered the Philadelphia market in the late 1980s by opening Ports of the World outlet stores. These stores would later be re-branded as Boscov's sometime in the mid-1990s.
In 2006, Albert Boscov, the son of Solomon Boscov, retired and his nephew Kenneth Lakin became chairman and chief executive. Lakin led an aggressive expansion of the chain, opening 10 new stores by 2008. The new stores did not perform as expected. In August 2008, just prior to the 2008 economic downturn Boscov's filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Al Boscov came out of retirement and regained control of the company. As part of the bankruptcy, 10 stores were closed. The company emerged from bankruptcy in September 2009.
Albert Boscov died from pancreatic cancer on February 10, 2017, at the age of 87. The chain is now headed by his nephew, Jim Boscov.
Boscov's continuing success makes it regarded as an "outlier" in a retail market where many department store chains are failing and closing stores. Boscov's saw record sales of $1.2 billion in 2017. Since 2009, the chain continues to expand and opened its 47th store in Milford, Connecticut in October 2018. Boscov's plans to continue to open one store per year and has invested in older stores by renovating them. Boscov's has announced plans to move into Rhode Island's Providence Place mall in 2019, following the departure of Nordstrom, which terminated the lease on the space. Boscov's currently owns and operates 2 standalone stores, one in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and one in downtown Binghamton, New York. In 2020, Boscov's opened at Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio in the former Sears space. The store opened on October 7, 2021, a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jazz festival[]
Boscov's sponsors the annual "Boscov's Berks Jazz Fest" which draws 35,000 to 40,000 people to the area.
Thanksgiving Day Parade[]
When Gimbels went out of business in 1986, WPVI-TV and Boscov's took over the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade. Boscov's remained a co-sponsor until 2007.