Photo by Marny Malin Boscov's CEO Albert Boscov talked about what type of store Boscov's would be at Thursday's press conference. He said Boscov's will bring about 400 jobs to the Frederick Towne Mall.

It's the signal of an advanced wave of renewed interest in the Golden Mile, they said.

Most of all, the personality of Albert Boscov, the chief executive officer and owner of the 39-store chain -- Frederick will be number 40 -- helped cement confidence at an afternoon press conference in the newly renamed "Boscov's Court," once the home of JCPenney.

"He's a guy, isn't he?" said Joe Lebherz, the president and CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. "He's a character. I like his business ideals, the way that he's expressed them. It seems it's a really family-oriented store."

According to information released by the store, Boscov's is the largest privately-owned, independent full-line department store in the nation. The store, which will be the largest in Frederick , is planned to open in late October.

The attendance of several city officials and members of the business community underscored the importance of the chain, not only to the mall, but also to Frederick .

"I'm glad they're here, I'm glad they're coming," Alderman Joe Baldi said.

Many of the 40 or so people who gathered at the court to see the festivities and grab bags of free goodies, shouted for Boscov's credit card applications. None were available, Mr. Boscov said, but a pre-approved mailer will go out to every household in Frederick .

The arrival of the store, the $10 million renovation that will expand the building from 127,000 to 187,000 square feet and bring 400 new jobs to the area, "will be a boost for the whole corridor," Mr. Lebherz said.

Retailers had been hanging on in the mall hoping a large anchor store would rejuvenate flagging trade, said Tom Bradley, the mall's general manager. Although the word had just gone out that a deal was finally signed with Boscov's as late as Tuesday, it was already generating interest, he said. Whereas management had focused on retaining retailers, there is now hope for expansion.

"On the news of that I have already had a number of discussions with real estate people of chains hanging on in hopes we would bring a national retailer here," Mr. Bradley said.

The deal would be a boost next month when Mr. Bradley travels to Las Vegas to the International Council of Shopping Centers annual leasing convention to try and attract new business, he said.

"We will be marketing Frederick Towne Mall to the world," he said.

The new arrival would be aggressive in pricing and competitive, especially with the larger Francis Scott Key Mall just outside of city limits to Frederick 's south, a long-time drain on Golden Mile retailers, Mr. Boscov indicated.

"I think this mall can be as impressive as the other mall, or as any mall anywhere" Mr. Boscov said.

Although two or three management positions for the store would be drawn from existing retail operations, the rest of the employees would come from around Frederick .

"It's really going to be jobs for here," Mr. Boscov said.