the Boscov's West store in Sinking Spring closed. In 2006, Albert Boscov, the son of Solomon Boscov, retired and his nephew Kenneth Lakin became chairman and chief executive. Lakin led an aggressive expansion of the chain, opening 10 new stores by 2008. Boscov's acquired these locations from Federated Department Stores following the merger with The May Department Stores Company. The new stores did not perform as expected. In August 2008, just prior to the 2008 economic downturn Boscov's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Albert Boscov came out of retirement and regained control of the company. As part of the bankruptcy, 10 stores were closed. The company emerged from bankruptcy in September 2009. Albert Boscov died from pancreatic cancer on February 10, 2017, at the age of eighty-seven. The chain is now headed by his nephew, Jim Boscov. Boscov's continuing success makes it regarded as an "outlier" in a retail market where many department store chains are failing and closing stores. Boscov's saw record sales of $1.2 billion in 2017. Since 2009, the chain continues to expand and opened its 47th store in Milford, Connecticut, in October 2018. Boscov's plans to continue to open one store per year and has invested in older stores by renovating them. Boscov's announced plans to move into the Providence Place mall in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2019, following the departure of Nordstrom, which terminated the lease on the space. The store opened on September 26, 2019. In 2020, Boscov's announced plans to open at Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio, in the former Sears space. The store opened on October 7, 2021, a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Boscov's announced that a store will open at the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgeport, West Virginia, in the later part of the year; this will be Boscov's 50th store and first location in the state. Civic affairs and charitable giving During the 1970s, Boscov's launched its "Friends Helping Friends" program, an annual fundraising event which has raised roughly a million dollars each year for non-profit organizations. Jazz festival Boscov's sponsors the annual "Boscov's Berks Jazz Fest" which draws 35,000 to 40,000 people to the Reading area. Thanksgiving Day Parade When Gimbels went out of business in 1986, WPVI-TV and Boscov's took over the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade. Boscov's remained a co-sponsor until 2007. In popular culture The Boscov’s in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania