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Sarah Arkin/Register & Bee
Sales signs are seen Monday at Boscov’s in Danville. The company announced Monday it is filing for bankruptcy and Danville’s store is one of 10 that will close.
Published: August 4, 2008
Updated: August 4, 2008
Boscov’s Inc.’s decision to close its Danville department store within a few weeks could leave a huge void at Piedmont Mall.
The company announced Monday that it will file for bankruptcy and close 10 of its 49 stores.
Boscov’s spokeswoman Maralyn Lakin didn’t give a specific date for the closing of the Danville store when contacted Monday, but said it would be open for a few weeks while the company gets business in order.
On Monday, the store looked stocked, and almost every item was on sale.
The 87-year-old Reading, Pa.-based company cited current economic conditions as the primary reason for filing for Chapter 11 protection.
“The downturn in the overall economy and consumer spending along with the serious credit market crunch have put severe pressure on our company’s financial position,” Ken Lakin, chairman and CEO of Boscov’s, said in a written statement.
Depending on the time of year, the Boscov’s store in Danville employs anywhere between 130 and 150 people, store manager David Hick said Monday.
Boscov’s announced in May 2004 that it would bring a retail department store and an additional 62,000 square feet of retail space to Piedmont Mall with its two-story sales floor and third-floor storage space.
Several stores, including Victoria’s Secret, MasterCuts and Ben David Jewelers, relocated to make room for the expansion.
The department store officially opened in Danville in November 2005, making it the only Boscov’s location in the state.
Along with a slew of other stores and companies setting up shop in Danville in 2004 and 2005, the city’s economic development department offered Boscov’s an incentive package to open its doors at the Piedmont Mall.
Interim City Manager Lyle Lacy said Monday that the incentive package was to be doled out over a multi-year period that hasn’t yet been completed. Boscov’s had to pass certain benchmarks to get funds, he added.
The company had to employ 200 full-time and 100 part-time employees to get money, but never hit those numbers, Lacy said.
Economic Development Director Jeremy Stratton said he had no prior knowledge that the store was going to be closing, but had heard rumors.
“You always hate to see when you take a couple of steps forward and one step back,” Stratton said Monday.
Founded in 1911, Boscov’s describes itself as the largest family-owned, full-service U.S. department store chain, with 49 locations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. It said it employs about 9,500 people and had sales of $1.25 billion in the year ended Feb. 2.
The company and seven affiliates filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. It had $538 million of assets and $479 million of liabilities as of May 3, a court filing shows.
Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.
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Reader Reactions
Thank you, Letstalk. Apology accepted.
Well Leefg I must admit, I missed the word “ still” in your comments. I do apologize.
Letstalk, I am NOT just getting around to supporting Boscov’s now. As I said in an earlier posted comment, Boscov’s is one of my favorite stores. I couldn’t have said that if I hadn’t been shopping there. I have been a loyal customer since the store opened, and I do know many of the employees. I do care very much about the fate of the employees.
I simply wanted to make the point that not everyone who would be shopping in Boscov’s until it officially closes is a vulture. Some people will still shop there because they care about the excellent quality and good prices Boscov’s offers. I will not be one of those people, however, because it was heart breaking to go in Boscov’s on Friday. The grief of the employees and customers was palpable.
As many have pointed out, it should be no surprise that this over-priced retailer is closing. I suspect places such as Belk’s and Harris Teeter will not be far behind.
Many people in Danville have lost their good paying jobs in the past few years. You cannot blame anyone for making purchases where they will get the most for their dollar… And was not at Boscov’s.
Letstalk, why don’t you try reading what is actually written before making a foolish comment? I Have Been shopping at Boscov’s since it opened, and I DO know many of the employees. How else could I say it is one of my favorite stores? I was planning to shop there for back to school long before I read the news about the closing. I had just been shopping at Boscov’s for new clothes about two weeks before I read the news of the closing. I might not shop at Boscov’s every single week, but I have been a loyal customer of the store.
Walmart and Mcdonalds are hiring.
Well leefg that is nice of you to go and support them NOW. What about those of us that have been going there since they came to town? We got to Know the employees, we knew where the depts. were. We knew we would get good service. and we knew them on the outside when we saw them away from the store as well. Hope your daughter enjoys here sheets. Better stock up
My heart goes out to those Boscov’s employees. This is not a good area in which to lose a job. I wish them all the best of luck.
To the Boscov’s employees, please understand that some of us who will be shopping still in Boscov’s are not doing so to take advantage of the sales. Some of us will be shopping there because we want to get the quality goods Boscov’s offers before it is too late. My daughter and I had already planned to go to Boscov’s to get some of her linens to go back to college.
The really bad thing about is the employees loosing their jobs. I wonder how many relocated here to work in that store.Comments in other posts such as the economy in this area is bad is true where do the people work that have enough income for their jobs to shop at any store. Another person said the quality of the stuff at Target was higher than Wal-Mart uh like where at?? it’s still is made in China. Where are the jobs at to support any store in Danville? I am sure most may agree that their will be other stores closing it is a mystery Sears and JCPenny and Belk are still operating. And jacking up utilities cost on people in this area to pay a new stores light bill is that what happened to increase this cost some folks like those receiving Social Security are being hit hard just to live either buy food or medicine. What will happen next??
I am a proud employee of boscovs, and I have been in the store since the opening. It was a shock to us on monday morning, when we found out the news 15 minutes before the store opened, and had to hide our tears all day from all the media, newspapers, Star news that was outside hounding the cuatomers all night, etc. etc. etc. that hounded us all day. What about us???? All customers and media wants to know is… when does it hit 75% Off, 90 % off?? When is your last day? We do not know the answers to these questions yet. You know as much as we do. Bu as for us in the store, we have hearts too, and after putting 3 HARD years of work in that store, seeing all we had worked so hard for be torn away from the walls, and even the fixtures are being sold that we cleaned daily…???? Come on now people…... Before you march in there in the next few weeks trying to see what you can get for nothing, think about the people there, that person behind that register, that has to support a family, kids, christmas on the way, and don’t know if a chain will be on the door tommorow, We did our job in that store, and we cannot help the powers in PA that threw us out. Think about the local management, who poured out their heart to us employees and customers, that relocated to Danville, and have no way back home.. that have medicine that needs to be filled after october…..That cannot sleep at night knowing what customers are throwing at them tommorow when they get up. Think about these things before you go back in there for that last item. What is this was happening to YOU? And then you have to go in and face that customer tommorow after all that you put into it was going down each day before your eyes. Thanks for the 3 years of memories danville.
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