Local retail leasing expert Steven Gartner tells GlobeSt.com that "I wouldn't count Boscov's down and out at all." He adds, though, "they certainly are faced with challenges as everyone is facing in this economy."

Key among those challenges is the competitive landscape for retailers, says Gartner, president of Conshohocken, PA-based Metro Commercial Real Estate Inc. "Nobody owns a category or a customer today," he says. "There are abundant opportunities for people to buy pretty much everything that is sold in a Boscov's. The Boscov's customer, while seemingly pretty loyal, is a value shopper and will go to multiple locations."

Although the ranks of department store names in the Philadelphia region have thinned—Wanamaker's, Strawbridge, Stern's and Kaufmann's have all passed into history--the number of stores has not diminished significantly, Gartner says. With Macy's now an 800-store "behemoth," Federated now commands greater purchasing power than regional chains, he says. In addition, he says "there are 100 Target stores that did not exist 15 years ago. Kohl's did not exist in this market 15 years ago."

Five of the 10 Boscov's locations slated to close are in Pennsylvania. They include two Philadelphia-area stores at the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne and the Montgomery Mall in North Wales and one at the Harrisburg East Mall, according to a news release from the company. Other stores due to be shuttered are in Pittsburgh and Monroeville, PA; Baltimore, Owings Mills and White Marsh, MD; Eatontown, NJ; and Danville, VA. Some of these locations are among the 10 that Federated had sold to Boscov's in February 2006.

The markets where the stores are being closed are all "relatively tight for real estate," Gartner says. "I suspect the landlords will have to become creative in terms of re-merchandising those spaces, but they'll be snapped up by other merchants--not necessarily department stores." He predicts that in some instances, the spaces will be broken up to accommodate smaller tenants.