Pa. Agency With Dept. Store Roots Prospers

Forty years ago Albert Boscov, the son of the founder of a regional chain of department stores, decided that affordable vacations should be available to all of his stores’ clientele.

The store, Boscov’s, was founded in 1911 in Reading, Pa. and had steadily expanded its offerings and number of locations.

One of those offerings was Boscov’s Travel which operates in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

There are currently Boscov’s Travel locations in 18 of 42 Boscov stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland.

Only for the ‘well to do’
“Back then, you didn’t travel unless you were really well-to-do,” said Janet Papilla, vice president of Boscov’s Travel, a TRAVELSAVERS agency. “Your yearly vacation was to go to the Jersey Shore for most people.”

In the 1970s the company chartered buses to the Philadelphia International Airport to ferry its customers en masse to Disney World in Orlando. It also, of course, booked airline tickets and hotel rooms for clients.

Today the company has a partnership with Southwest Airlines providing nonstop charters to U.S. destinations from June through November.

Boscov’s Travel also partners with tour operators to schedule trips to destinations like U.S. national parks, hot air balloon festivals and various locations in the Pacific Northwest.

Perhaps its most successful charter takes clients to Disney Vacations parks in Orlando; the company’s charter flights to Orlando have taken place since 1974.

“We are unique in that we have our own product, and we do all [other travel agency tasks] too,” said Pat Cinfici, president of Boscov’s Travel.

An evolution in travel
Cinfici has been with the company since its inception in 1974 and has seen the business of travel morph gradually over those years.

Cruising has become a bigger piece of the firm’s leisure business, for instance, because of the locations of Boscov’s stores.

“We buy a lot of cruise space that provides a good rate for our clients,” said Papilla. “We are fortunate that our clients have access to homeports in Baltimore, Bayonne and New York City.”

The hometown touch
Boscov’s Travel leverages its position in the community to build relationships with its clients. For Cinfici, it’s gratifying to see the children, and even grandchildren of customers, come in to book a trip.

“Right now the delivery of service in this industry tends to be very anonymous, and we find that people are gravitating toward coming in to talk to us face-to face,” said Cinfici.

“Most people can only afford one vacation a year and they want to make sure they are placing their money with someone reliable.”

Recession woes
Having a regional focus, however, can make it difficult for a travel agency during a recession. Boscov’s was forced to close several travel locations due to a stagnant economy.

“We scaled back after 9/11; there were markets that were weak,” said Cinfici.

The company now employs about 125 full-time agents with a 70/30 leisure/business mix.

“I often say the difference between us and the agency across the street is the service,” said Papilla. “We also have deep relationships with our vendors and are careful with our partners.”

Local marketing
Boscov’s Travel is active in social media and markets itself through both email and direct mail.

Having brick-and-mortar stores in local communities also presents it with old-school marketing opportunities.

“As an agency, we get preferred pricing in local newspapers because we buy through the department store,” said Cinfici. “Our clients still look for our ads in the newspaper because that’s where we’ve been forever.” Radio ads also bring in new clients.

Boscov’s Travel markets itself as an antidote to the confusion of booking one’s own vacation online.

“The Internet has actually made travel a complicated buy,” said Cinfici. “But we have gone through life with our clients and the travel industry is really about relationships.”