Boscov's Department Store, LLC

Outlet mall capital Reading, Pennsylvania, has conceived more than bargain shopping. It's given us Boscov's Department Store, which operates about 40 stores (down from 50 in 2007) that anchor malls mainly in Pennsylvania and four other mid-Atlantic states. The stores sell men's, women's, and children's apparel, shoes, and accessories, as well as jewelry, cosmetics, housewares, appliances, and sporting goods. It also operates an online store. After expanding too rapidly amid a worsening outlook for department stores, Boscov's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008 and was later purchased by a group led by its chairman and CEO Albert Boscov. Boscov's was founded by Solomon Boscov in 1911.