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When I was a kid, there was a Globe Store. And, what a place it was.
The Scranton department store had an escalator. It had a restaurant where a guy hand carved a roast under those funky heating lamps. It had a proper woman named Violet who sold handbags on the first floor. Violet worked there for decades. She loved to talk about good Coach handbags, the kind “the girls from Marywood” carried. There was even a department where you could get a wig.
I miss the Globe Store. It competed valiantly with Oppenheim’s for years on Wyoming Avenue, two giant retailers on opposite sides of the street. Now, they’re both gone, as is Violet, my grandmother.
When I moved to Wilkes-Barre, there were also two proper department stores in town. One was Pomeroy’s and one was Boscov’s. In 1987, Pomeroy’s went to department store heaven. I remember attending its going out of business sale when I was a senior at King’s. Boscov’s managed to hold the line, I think, because of the showmanship and acumen of Al Boscov. One of my callers referred to him as “the P.T. Barnum of retailing,” and I tend to agree.
Boscov’s opened its doors in 1981. Where else in the city could you buy a bottle of wine, a parakeet, a couch and a handbag all under one roof? I suggest nowhere. Albert Boscov also gave shoppers the gimmickry of the ramp sale and register roulette. Isn’t shopping much more exciting when you don’t know how much it will cost in the end?
My college roommates and I enjoyed our sojourns to “the ‘Scovs,” and I distinctly remember skipping school the day Sophia Loren appeared in the store in downtown Wilkes-Barre to promote her perfume. The event was so large that the Sheraton Crossgates Hotel renamed a suite after Ms. Loren. A caller today remembered “the floor shook” when the movie star appeared in the department store. She had giant glasses and looked a little like Dustin Hoffman when he played “Tootsie.”
Mr. Boscov was much more than a man who sat back and collected register receipts. A civic-minded gent, he was instrumental in the arm twisting and begging that was necessary to raise the money to renovate the F.M. Kirby Center. I did a piece a few years ago when the Kirby turned 20, and I recall that Mr. Boscov applied the “personal touch” to make sure there was enough money to finish the renovation. He went, hat in hand, more than once to beg, plead and encourage his friends in the business community.
In 1986, the Kirby held a gala opening, which would not have been possible if a businessman from across the square hadn’t made it so.
Now, the Boscov’s brand is in trouble. The store has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. There’s safety for now: Those who run Boscov’s say the stores in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton are not in danger of closing.
That’s good. So, if you can, why not Boscov today? Go down there and get something. Show the Boscov family you’d like that store to be there for a while.
Continue the heritage of the department store for as long as you can. After all, there’s nothing particularly nostalgic about telling your grandchildren about where you bought the 19-cent paper towels in the big box store. |
Rush Limbaugh
