Elder-Beerman’s website relaunched with similar brands

An Indiana tech company has relaunched Elder-Beerman’s website and plans to open department store locations in several states.

After officially acquiring Bon-Ton and all of its subsidiaries' intellectual property one week ago, CSC Generation relaunched the websites Friday.

The website is selling familiar brands sold at Elder-Beerman in previous years, including Michael Kors, Vera Bradley, Calvin Klein and Brooks Brothers. A full list of brands can be found on elder-beerman.com.

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In addition to the classic brands, Elder-Beerman’s website also shows major kitchen appliances and televisions. There are also lease-to-own options like a pair of Birkenstock sandals for $11 a month rather than $110.

The stock right now is limited, but the site says: “We are sprinting as fast as we can to rebuild the company.”

Also included on all websites was a letter from Bon-Ton’s new president, Jordan Voloshin, exploring why a technology company wanted to pick up Bon-Ton.

“I spent many days at various stores talking to customers who were truly saddened by the thought of losing their beloved brand,” Voloshin said. “Few companies are lucky to have customers who are this invested in its success.”

Several Dayton-area customers said it was upsetting to see a long-time tradition of Elder-Beerman end when doors closed Aug. 29.

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“I feel almost like crying, but I wanted to come back for the final time,” said Darlene Johnson of Wilmington as she left the Dayton Mall location on its last day in business.

Johnson’s parents both worked at Elder-Beerman, something she remembered fondly, and something Voloshin also noticed. He cited a competent and loyal workforce as a reason CSC Generation worked to revive the department chain’s ecommerce platforms.

“I watched countless store employees perform their duties as if their store wasn’t shutting down - going above and beyond to help customers,” he said.

But first on the list, Voloshin said the company was inspired to rebuild an American icon.

This news organization first reported that Elder-Beerman may be coming back after a message posted on the website said to stay tuned. CSC Generation paid $900,000 for the assets including email addresses, mailing addresses, website and social media accounts.

Elder-Beerman and Bon-Ton social media accounts remained dormant as of Sunday afternoon.

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The tech company has said its goal is to focus on ecommerce while making plans to reinvent physical stores that will better keep up with Amazon and other online retailers. Those physical stores are most likely to open in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but other states aren’t out of the running.

This news organization has reached out to Bon-Ton’s new vice president of communications for more information.

Bon-Ton filed for bankruptcy in February, followed by liquidation sales of all of its brands including Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers. The sales that began in April came to an end during the last week of August, as all stores shut their doors, for what the public thought was the last time.

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