The retailers says the move will free up space for more popular items like home furnishings and bedroom sets.
Boscov’s plans to stop selling electronics and major appliances by year's end, freeing space for what the retailer says are more profitable items like home furnishings and bedroom sets.
Cars fill the Boscov's parking lot at Palmer Park Mall during a prior year's Black Friday sale. The retailer says it will stop selling electronics and major appliances, shifting space toward things home furnishings and bedroom sets.
Big appliances like washers, dryers, refrigerators and stoves will also be phased out, he said, while small appliances remain.
The company plans to provide more information in its Thanksgiving weekend fliers. Boscov said the retailer expects to have most clearance sales done by Christmas and the transition complete by January.
Boscov said the adjustment was years in the making, reflecting changes in the department store landscape.
The Reading-based chain, which emerged from bankruptcy three years ago, operates local stores at Lehigh Valley and Palmer Park malls.
“When the customers tell you that you need something else and you need to make the room, you have to listen,” Boscov said.
Boscov said its customers’ interest in electronic items began to wane after 2009 following a government-mandated conversion to digital television that caused many customers to hurry and switch their personal sets.
Plus the ease of shopping online for electronics has further decreased margins for such products, he said. Boscov says big-box and Internet retailers are better suited for that niche.
“That business has diminished over the years,” Boscov said. “It’s not that everybody needs a new flat screen every year. Macy’s and Bon-Ton got out of that business years ago. We did so hesitantly.
“At the same time, home furnishings have blossomed,” Boscov said. “The message we’re getting is we need to provide more assortment.”
The department store’s existing space for bedroom and dining sets are cramped, Boscov said. As part of its plans to revamp layout, Boscov said the retailer will provide more room for things like oriental rugs and Bombay & Co. furniture and home decor shops.
Boscov said the company hopes to complete the change without job reductions, offering opportunities for its electronics and appliances sales force to apply for other openings.
The department store chain operates 41 locations in five states. It emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2009, a move that followed the return of founder of Al Boscov, who came out of retirement to buy back the chain in 2008. Jim Boscov said the company remains profitable.