Boston Store is an online retailer originally established in 1897 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

as a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

History

1920s and 1930s

Throughout the 1920s, and 1930s the Boston Store was run by Philip Irving Stone. His nephew, Irving Stone, worked as a manager and, beginning in 1927, dated Broadway ingenue and later MGM movie star

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American soprano and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 film) ...

for a time. In December 1933, 600 of the store's 1000 employees walked out in a famous White Collar union strike.

Federated and Maus Freres S.A.

Julian Simon's control of Boston Store was sold to

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

in 1948 and under Federated, branch stores were opened in several

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

cities including Oshkosh, Sheboygan and Manitowoc. Ownership later passed to the

Bergner's P.A. Bergner & Co. (also known as Bergner's) was an upscale Midwestern department store in the United States, that was established in 1889. The chain is now an online retailer operated by BrandX.com, Inc. The flagship store was located in Peori ...

chain of

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

in 1985 (itself owned by

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

-based Maus Frères S.A., a retail conglomerate controlled by the Maus and Nordmann Families); soon afterward Bergner's relocated its headquarters to Milwaukee.

Acquisitions

As cross-town rival

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

was being dismantled in 1986, Boston Store acquired three Gimbel's branches at Southgate Mall, Milwaukee, East Towne Mall, Madison and Mayfair Mall, Wauwatosa. In 1989, P.A. Bergner bought Chicago's

Carson Pirie Scott Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. It was sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but sti ...

for over $450 million. Carson's itself had just bought Minneapolis-based

Donaldson's Donaldson's, previously known as the L. S. Donaldson Company, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a defunct department store company. History Scottish immigrant William Donaldson opened a small store in Minneapolis in 1881, located at 3 ...

in November 1987. With this, Bergner's was a major Midwestern presence, with stores in five states: Wisconsin,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, operating under the Bergner's, Carson Pirie Scott and Boston Store names.

Bankruptcy and merger with Proffitt's

In 1991, Bergner's filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, with Maus Freres S.A. losing control of the company in a bitter fight. In 1993, the organization emerged from bankruptcy court under the name Carson Pirie Scott & Co, trading under the symbol CPS. Eventually, Proffitt's Inc., now Saks Incorporated, bought Carson Pirie Scott in 1998 and its purchase increased the northern presence of the Saks Incorporated company.

Sale to The Bon-Ton

In July 2005, Saks completed the sale of its Southern Department Store Group consisting of

Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in ...

and

McRae's McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century. History Samuel P. McRae f ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

-based

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

, Inc. On October 31, 2005, Saks announced that it was selling Boston Store and its other Northern Department Store Group stores (Carson Pirie Scott,

Younkers Younkers Inc. () is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout ...

, and

Herberger's G. R. Herberger Inc. is a digitally native retailer. It was established in 1927 in the Midwestern United States as a department store. History Herberger's began in Osakis, Minnesota, when G.R. "Bob" Herberger opened his first store in 1927 ...

) to Bon-Ton Stores in a $1.1 billion deal. The transaction was completed on March 6, 2006. Younkers stores in the Milwaukee area were rebranded Boston Stores, simplifying the company's ads to feature one Bon-Ton banner per market.

Bon Ton Bankruptcy

On April 17, 2018, two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company, with a bid estimated at $775.5 million (~$ in ). Stores were closed within 10 to 12 weeks.

Relaunch

On September 14, 2018 a message was released on the Bostonstore.com homepage stating “We’re Back!”. An agreement had been signed the previous week by CSC Generation Holdings to use the rights to Bon-Ton and its subsidiaries. On October 1, 2018, Boston Store officially debuted as an online retailer.

References

{{Department stores in the United States Defunct department stores based in Wisconsin Retail companies established in 1897 Retail companies disestablished in 2018 Companies based in Milwaukee 1897 establishments in Wisconsin 2018 disestablishments in Wisconsin Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2018