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NILES -- Boscov's department store, when it opens at the Eastwood Mall later this year, is one more positive development in what's becoming a long list of good economic news in the Mahoning Valley.
Anthony Cafaro Jr., co-president of mall owner / operator Cafaro Company, ticked off the others Monday while announcing Boscov's will occupy the former Sears store and bring 300 full- and part-time jobs to Niles.
Cafaro also listed as good economic news the General Motors / LG Chem joint $2.3 billion investment into an electric vehicle battery-cell plant, and its 1,000 jobs; Lordstown Motors Corp., an electric pickup truck startup and its 400 jobs to start; and the HomeGoods distribution center and its 1,000 jobs in Lordstown.
In fact, without those developments it was very real that Boscov's may have stalled in light of General Motors mothballing its assembly plant in Lordstown last year and the exodus of 1,500 jobs.
"We've been talking to Boscov's about the Eastwood Mall for at least five years," Cafaro said. "It came together pretty quickly. Quite frankly when the Lordstown announcement was made, it kind of put a hold on things and when some other positive economic news came out, that helped kickstart the discussion."
Demolition is underway now in preparation for construction of the 180,000-square-foot plus department store that will occupy about one-third of the mall's west concourse. To make the space for the new retailer, several stores in that concourse will be relocated inside the mall.
It will also take up the what was once Tilt Studio, an arcade / game room that closed at the end of 2019.
Monday's formal announcement ended months of speculation, mostly surrounding Boscov's, over just what retailer will occupy the space after Sears closed in late 2018. October-ish is when the Reading, Pa.-based, family-owned company is targeting to open the single biggest retailer ever at the mall.
The store will be Boscov's third in a Cafaro Company-owned mall. The others are at Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville and at Mill Creek Mall in Erie, Pa. Coincidentally, it also occupies a former Sears store.
The mutual attraction starts with both companies being family-owned, privately held companies committed to the communities they serve. For Boscov's, the mall offers the necessary room for its store footprint, and the area fits the company's geographic profile and contains the right demographics that give the company a strong belief it will succeed.
Several people at the announcement indicated with a show of hands they were already familiar with Boscov's in a locale where it maybe considered a relative unknown.
"If you don't feel like you can succeed, you certainly wouldn't go forward … more than 50 percent of the people here knew who we were and if they are spending an hour, hour and a half driving to another location, that's also saying we should be here," said Boscov's chairman and CEO Jim Boscov.
The store will be the company's 49th department store in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, including one in the Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca. The company was founded in 1914.
The store will be a full-line, full-service store with some extras, such as a candy department, free gift wrapping and year-round military discount. It will also have a community auditorium for community events, enlightenment courses and entertainment.
"Many stores who call themselves department stores really have become specialty stores," Boscov said. "We still believe in the traditional department store, where in one shopping trip, you can find everything you want."
rselak@tribtoday.com