Albert Boscov (September 22, 1929 – February 10, 2017) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the long-time head of

Boscov's Boscov's Inc. is a family-owned department store with over fifty locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Connecticut, West Virginia, and Rhode Island. Twenty-six of the stores are located in Pennsylvania. Corpo ...

Department Stores and served as the company's chairman and CEO until retiring in 2015. In 2009, Boscov led a buyout of the chain in order to rescue it from bankruptcy. Boscov died on February 10, 2017, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Early life and education

Boscov was born in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

, in 1929, the son of immigrants Solomon and Ethel Boscov. His father had arrived in Reading from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

,Charles Schuyler Castner. ''Berksiana''. 1976, p.321. in 1911 where he founded a dry goods store in a row house in 1918. Boscov graduated from

Reading Senior High School Reading Senior High School, colloquially known as The Castle on The Hill, is a 9–12 public high school in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1927 and is part of the Reading School District. With an enrollment of 5,213 as of the 2022-2 ...

in Reading and

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. At Drexel, Boscov started his first business, a sandwich delivery service called U-Eat-Em. Boscov was a member of the

Sigma Alpha Mu Sigma Alpha Mu (), commonly known as Sammy, is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Though initially founded as a Jewish organization, the fraternity dropped its religious affiliation and became open to men of a ...

fraternity at Drexel. He served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. After military service, he returned to Reading and joined his father's business.

Career

After taking over the family business, Boscov expanded the original store at Ninth and Pike Streets in Reading. In 1962, he opened Boscov's West in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, the company's first full-line store. Boscov's North opened in

Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania Muhlenberg Township (pronounced "MYOO-len-burg") is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 21,915 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous township in Berks County after Spring Township and Ex ...

, in 1965, and Boscov's East opened in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania, in 1967. During the 1970s and 1980s, Boscov and his brother-in-law, Edwin Lakin, expanded the chain to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. By 2005, Boscov's had 39 stores with $1 billion in sales. In early 2006, Boscov retired as chairman, transferring control to his nephew, Ken Lakin, who soon after purchased ten department store locations from

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 ...

by borrowing heavily. In August 2008, Boscov'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 ...

, citing deteriorating consumer and credit conditions during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. In October 2008, Albert Boscov and his brother-in-law Edwin Lakin both confirmed that they would be making a bid to purchase back the chain, competing against Versa Capital Management, Inc. On November 4, 2008, it was confirmed that Boscov's would be selling its assets back to the pair, canceling the earlier agreement with Versa, and keeping the 98-year-old chain under family control. Under Boscov's guidance the chain recovered, and in March 2015 retired for the second time and handed control of the company to his nephew, Jim Boscov. The chain continued to thrive pursuing a slow-growth policy, and opened its 50th store, in Bridgeport, West Virginia, on October 7, 2023.

Personal life

In 1959, he married Eunice, with whom he had three children: Ruth (married to Michael Aichenbaum)
Ellen Boscov
(married to Todd Taylor), and Meg Boscov (married to Randall Brown).

Death

Boscov died on February 10, 2017, from

in Reading. He was an

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

member of the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community of Reading.

Philanthropy

Boscov donated money to the

Penn State Berks Penn State Berks is a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Spring Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. History The school traces its origins to 1927 and the establishment of a training school for workers for th ...

campus for its library, and to Genesius Theatre for restoration and further improvement of its main-stage building in Reading. He also performed at Genesius Theatre as Tevye from ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' at Genesius's "Broadway Musical Revue".

Legacy

On June 22, 2000, the section of U.S. Route 422 Business and U.S. Route 422 between Pennsylvania Route 562 and Shelbourne Road in Exeter Township, Pennsylvania, was designated by an act of the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

as the Albert Boscov Commemorative Highway in honor of Boscov. In 2005, Boscov co-founded

Goggleworks Center for the Arts GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center located in Reading, Pennsylvania. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to transform lives through unique interactions with art.” Located in the former Willson Go ...

, renovating the former Willson Goggle Factory into one of the largest art centers in the country. GoggleWorks was one of several development projects that he spearheaded to catalyze downtown revitalization in Reading. There he established the city's Entertainment Square, which today features several anchor institutions along with restaurants and businesses, including an IMAX theatre, Miller Center for the Arts, GoggleWorks Apartment Complex, and Boscov Plaza, along with GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. In 2010, ''

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

'' magazine named Boscov one of the most influential Democrats in Pennsylvania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boscov, Albert 1929 births 2017 deaths People from Reading, Pennsylvania Drexel University alumni Businesspeople from Pennsylvania American people of Russian-Jewish descent Pennsylvania Democrats Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Pennsylvania 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews