Boston Store (Wisconsin)

The Boston Store Inc. is an online retailer and former department store chain owned by The Bon-Ton stores. It was founded in 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This article is about the Wisconsin department store chain. For the Southern California and Arizona chain (1934–1996), see Boston Stores. For the Los Angeles "Boston Store" (1883-1915), see J. W. Robinson's. For the Erie, PA store, see Boston Store (Erie, Pennsylvania).
The Boston Store Inc
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1897 (1897)
HeadquartersMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Number of locations
14 (at time of closure)[1]
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares
ParentFederated Department Stores (1948–1985)
Maus Frères (1985–1991)
Proffitts Inc. (1998–2005)
The Bon-Ton (2006–2018)
CSC Generation (2018-)
WebsiteArchived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

History

1920s and 1930s

Throughout the 1920s, and 1930s the Boston Store was run by Philip Irving Stone. His nephew, Irving Stone, worked as a manager and, beginning in 1927, dated Broadway ingenue and later MGM movie star Jeanette MacDonald for a time.

In December 1933, 600 of the store's 1000 employees walked out in a famous White Collar union strike.[2]

Federated and Maus Freres S.A.

Julian Simon's control of Boston Store was sold to Federated Department Stores in 1948 and under Federated, branch stores were opened in several Wisconsin cities including Oshkosh, Sheboygan and Manitowoc. Ownership later passed to the Bergner's chain of Peoria, Illinois in 1985 (itself owned by Switzerland-based Maus Frères S.A., a retail conglomerate controlled by the Maus and Nordmann Families); soon afterward Bergner's relocated its headquarters to Milwaukee.

Acquisitions

As cross-town rival Gimbels was being dismantled in 1986, Boston Store acquired three Gimbel's branches at Southgate Mall, Milwaukee, East Towne Mall, Madison and Mayfair Mall, Wauwatosa.

In 1989, P.A. Bergner bought Chicago's Carson Pirie Scott for over $450 million. Carson's itself had just bought Minneapolis-based Donaldson's in November 1987. With this, Bergner's was a major Midwestern presence, with stores in five states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Iowa, operating under the Bergner's, Carson Pirie Scott and Boston Store names.

Bankruptcy and merger with Proffitt's

In 1991, Bergner's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with Maus Freres S.A. losing control of the company in a bitter fight. In 1993, the organization emerged from bankruptcy court under the name Carson Pirie Scott & Co, trading under the symbol CPS. Eventually, Proffitt's Inc., now Saks Incorporated, bought Carson Pirie Scott in 1998 and its purchase increased the northern presence of the Saks Incorporated company.

Sale to The Bon-Ton

In July 2005, Saks completed the sale of its Southern Department Store Group consisting of Proffitt's and McRae's to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Belk, Inc. On October 31, 2005, Saks announced that it was selling Boston Store and its other Northern Department Store Group stores (Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Younkers, and Herberger's) to Bon-Ton Stores in a $1.1 billion deal. The transaction was completed on March 6, 2006.[3] Younkers stores in the Milwaukee area were rebranded Boston Stores, simplifying the company's ads to feature one Bon-Ton banner per market.

On April 17, 2018, two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company, with a bid estimated at $775.5 million. Stores were closed within 10 to 12 weeks.[4][5]

Resurrection

On September 14, 2018 it was announced that Bostonstore.com had a homepage stating “We’re Back!”. An agreement had been signed the previous week by CSC Generation Holdings to use the rights to Bon-Ton and its subsidiaries. [6]

On October 1, 2018 The Boston Store was operative online.

References
  1. "The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-08-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-03-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Paul Gores (April 17, 2018). "It's the end for Bon-Ton Stores, the parent company of Boston Store, Younkers". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  5. Rick Moriarty (April 17, 2018). "Bon-Ton Stores to close (report)". The Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  6. https://fox6now.com/2018/09/14/were-back-boston-stores-website-is-up-and-running-ready-for-shoppers/


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