Boscov’s Department Stores, the country’s largest family-owned independent department store chain, has filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company will close 10 stores and is up for sale.
Boscov’s is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania and has almost 50 stores on the east coast. Not all of the stores will be closed as a result of their bankruptcy, therefore not all of the company’s 9,500 employees will lose their jobs.
Boscov’s owes millions of dollars to more than 40 companies that gave them merchandise on credit. Buscov’s had over $1 billion in sales last year but, due to high gas prices and the housing credit crisis, the company reports that consumers have slowed down their shopping habits.
Boscov’s stores will be open for business as the company waits for a court decision regarding their bankruptcy filing. The ten stores they plan to close in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey will close immediately.
Source: Delaware Online