It’s hard to imagine our community without Albert R. Boscov. Though the recent announcement of his illness gave the community a bit of time to prepare for the awful news of his death Friday night at the age of 87, it still seems almost impossible to absorb the idea that this remarkable man has left us. Boscov could achieve the seemingly impossible, and do it repeatedly and in different walks of life.
For starters, his accomplishments as a retailer were legendary. He built a regional department store chain from the humble roots of a dry goods store on North Ninth Street. Today it covers seven states, from Ohio to Connecticut and from New York to Maryland. By the end of the year it will have 46 stores.
During an era when family-owned department stores have largely disappeared from American retailing, either absorbed by larger companies or out of business entirely, Boscov’s is going strong under the leadership of its founder’s descendants. Department stores in general are struggling in today’s changing marketplace. Big players such as Macy’s are scaling back operations and closing stores. Boscov’s is growing.
Of course the very fact that Boscov’s is even in business today is a tribute to Albert Boscov’s remarkable tenacity and talent. He and his brother-in-law and longtime business partner Edwin A. Lakin came out of retirement to rescue the chain from bankruptcy in 2008. The sheer force of Boscov’s personality played a big role in getting the business through that period. Thousands of jobs were saved, many of them here in the chain’s home base.
Boscov remained the face of the business and stayed involved long past the age when most people are ready to take it easy. And even while he was doing that, he was busy working to revive the city of Reading.
It is remarkable enough that Boscov had the vision to imagine an arts and entertainment district at what had been a decidedly uninviting intersection of Second and Washington streets. It borders on miraculous that he was able to get it built fairly quickly in a city where development often moves at a glacial pace. Through sheer force of will, he spearheaded the effort to turn an abandoned factory into the wonderful GoggleWorks Center for the Arts and to get a movie theater, parking garage and an upscale apartment building constructed nearby.
His nonprofit Our City Reading also played key roles in building the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and the Santander Bank operations center, both on Penn Street, And through it all, that same organization was working to rehabilitate city housing and encourage more homeownership.
All of this work on behalf of the city was done in Boscov’s later years. It is gratifying to know that he was able to see the results of the time, talent and resources he put into these projects, and that he was there to accept the thanks of a grateful community when a statue of him was erected on Second Street, in the heart of the area renamed Entertainment Square thanks to his efforts.
Though Boscov gave Reading a great head start toward a better future, there is lots of work left to do for our city to reach the potential that he so clearly saw. No individual can replace such a dynamo. But if we all push ourselves to act in his spirit of determination and drive, we can see his vision through. Doing so would be the greatest tribute we could give him.
We send our condolences to all those who were close to Al Boscov, including his family and countless co-workers whose hearts are aching today. He will be deeply missed.
