It’s official:
Boscov’s Inc., the 9,500-employee department-store chain founded in 1911 in Reading, Pennsylvania, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Wilmington, Delaware, today, citing decreased consumer spending.
Boscov’s, which said in court papers that it’s the biggest family-owned full-service department store chain in the U.S., will immediately close 10 of its 49 stores. The company said it will borrow as much as $250 million from a group of lenders led by Bank of America Corp. to help it restructure.
The Associated Press has the full list of stores that are closing:
MARYLAND
Marley Station Mall, Glen Burnie
Owings Mills Mall, Owings Mills
White Marsh Mall, BaltimoreNEW JERSEY
Monmouth Mall, EatontownPENNSYLVANIA
Harrisburg East Mall, Harrisburg
Monroeville Mall, Monroeville
Montgomery Mall, North Wales
Oxford Valley Mall, Langhorne
South Hills Village Mall, Bethel ParkVIRGINIA
Piedmont Mall, Danville
More coverage from the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.
This is a blow to the retailer that touts itself as American’s largest family owned department store. In an age of consolidation and rapid, national, retail expansion, Boscov’s was one of the last regional department store chains that we had here in the Mid-Atlantic.
I wonder how many of these locations are being scouted by JC Penney and Kohl’s.