Boscov's prepares to open two new stores with promises of local flavor

Boscov's stands ready to help with the bake sales that feed the coffers of area high school bands. Assisting with such community projects will be as much a part of making a name for itself locally as organizing gala previews for this week's openings of the Reading-based chain's first two Allegheny County locations.

As the department store industry consolidates with a reinvented Macy's embracing the advantages of converting hundreds of stores nationwide to a single name, the 50-store Boscov's chain is trying to ingratiate itself in a very local way.

"We'd like to become the hometown store," said Kenneth S. Lakin, Boscov's chairman and chief executive officer and the grandson of founder Solomon Boscov. "We're going to work hard to earn it."

If the company's strategy seems at odds with trends in the retail business, that doesn't bother Mr. Lakin, who believes he can blend an understanding of changing shopping habits with lessons gathered growing up in the almost century-old family business.

In his opinion, Macy's, which will officially eliminate the Kaufmann's name in early September, should do well buying its advertising nationally and linking its gift registry across the country.

But Boscov's plans to fill a different role by concentrating on very local marketing and offering brands that might not fit with the strategies of larger retailers.

Despite various reports showing a shrinking department store industry, Mr. Lakin confidently predicts his private company's business will grow from $1.1 billion last year to $1.3 billion this year as it steps into several locations abandoned by the big guys.

"It's a unique time in retailing," said the Boscov's chairman yesterday as he toured his new Monroeville Mall store. The former Kaufmann's location and another at South Hills Village will open at the end of the week under the Boscov's name.

"There's been a lot of change," he noted with a certain understatement.

The Monroeville store, which will employ close to 400, is still a work in progress as Boscov's rushes to complete the remodeling.

As Mr. Lakin walked the floor, he stopped frequently to ask contractors about fixtures or to ask managers about placement of various merchandise.

Piles of unopened boxes, rolling racks of clothes and a few naked mannequins should soon be cleared away as Boscov's completes the presentation that will introduce its style to many who haven't ventured out to the retailer's stores in Beaver or Butler counties.

Shoppers familiar with the former Kaufmann's site may recognize the flooring and the jewelry cases, which weren't replaced, but the frosted green overhead signs have been reconfigured for departments that have moved and to identify ones that the other retailer didn't have in recent years.

Boscov's has deliberately kept merchandise that other department stores winnowed out. A third-floor candy counter is designed to arouse the senses as well as offer easy gift giving. Toys tucked behind children's clothes are meant to help customers who need a convenient present for that next birthday, complete with free gift wrapping.

The chain carries flat-screen TVs, washers and refrigerators as well as exercise equipment, golf clubs and ready-to-assemble furniture. A curtains section includes a self-serve stock room and the juniors department offers fashions for larger-size young women near styles for their smaller friends.

Everything is meant to appeal to a mid-level customer, offering a good, better and best choice of price and quality. While the store will carry Timex watches, it also is trying a line of Wittnauer timepieces that can cost as much as $895.

Even before Federated Department Stores acquired Kaufmann's owner May Department Stores last year, Macy's had been scaling back its collection of brands and working to develop private labels that wouldn't be sold by anyone else.

That move helped differentiate the chain from its major competitor, but also opened up room for chains such as Boscov's. The smaller retailer remains firmly focused on middle America although it has moved to upgrade its selection of brands, which account for about 90 percent the retailer's total sales, said Mr. Lakin.

The massive merger that eliminated May Department Stores prompted state attorneys general -- in the interest of department store competition -- to give first preference for overlapping store sites to retailers such as Boscov's, Bon-Ton and Nordstrom over Wal-Mart, Target and J.C. Penney.

As a result, Boscov's will open 10 stores this year. It traditionally opened one to two annually and the company's strategy calls for setting an expansion pace of about five new stores annually. But Mr. Lakin said the expansion is not part of a grand scheme to follow in Macy's nationwide footsteps. He sees plenty of room for growth within a 350-mile radius of Reading. The chain will not have a presence in the North Hills because Nordstrom's will be moving into the vacant space at Ross Park Mall.

Teresa F. Lindeman can be reached at
tlindeman@post-gazette.com
or at 412-263-2018.