Boscov?s Department Stores Inc. is staking a claim where others have tired and failed.
The Reading, Pa.-based independently owned retailer is opening Saturday in locations once held by Hecht?s, Macy?s, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, just to name a few.
Hecht?s is now Macy?s, and the former Macy?s location at some area malls is now Boscov?s. At Owings Mills Mall, Lord & Taylor and Saks are distant memories.
If Friday?s gala preview is any indication, Boscov?s three new locations ought to be overrun with eager shoppers Saturday after the ribbons are cut and the doors are open to the public.
Hundreds of people gathered around every entrance of the new Boscov?s store at White Marsh Mall ? scenes that were repeated at Marley Station and Owings Mills ? for a sneak peek at what the Reading, Pa.-based retailer has to offer. Each person paid $5 to a local charity for the chance to get a 24-hour head start on the Boscov?s experience.
“We won?t know the impact until later, but it?s possible that we?ll raise $100,000 for local [charities],” said Boscov?s chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lakin.
Eighty Baltimore-area charities received 30,000 tickets to sell, and shoppers without tickets made donations at the door.
Lakin, the third-generation of Solomon Boscov?s family to run the independent department store chain, will cut the grand-opening ribbon at 10 a.m. Saturday at the White Marsh location, while other store executives have the honor at Marley Station and Owings Mills.
As the countdown began Friday morning, Lakin talked about working with his father, Edward Lakin, and his extended family who took over management of the store from his grandfather and store founder.
“It?s a rewarding experience,” he said as the final countdown was heard and the doors swung open.
After that, Lakin was the consummate retailer, offering directions to the throngs of shoppers who rushed into the store.
“I?ve come for the 49-piece buffet set,” said Ruth O?Brien of Baltimore County, who was clutching the Boscov?s sale paper tightly in her hand.
Lakin said 500,000 circulars were sent out in a mass mailing to residents who live around the three malls.
White Marsh Mall general manager Wendy Vunak cheered Boscov?s arrival.
“They will truly complement our existing mix of merchants, and the timing of their opening will jump start what promises to be a great holiday shopping season,” she said.
Retailer Betty DiPietrantonio, who was manning the C&A Sportz kiosk near the first-floor mall entrance of Boscov?s, said she was excited about the foot traffic that Boscov?s will generate, but was disappointed she couldn?t get in on Friday?s shopping frenzy.
“My daughter wants the cutlery set, but I can?t leave,” she said.
