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Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 15 Jan 2009 16:41
by Dean
It's official. They have filed for bankruptcy...and are for sale.

http://www.sbsun.com/sanbernardino/ci_11453938

The Moreno Valley site listed in the above article...closed last year!

http://www.pe.com/business/realestate/s ... 30d91.html

Check the site for the mall...shows a picture of the old store with the Harris name still listed:

http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at- ... -Mall.html

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 16 Jan 2009 18:06
by ieguy441
I always found it was odd that they decided to pull out of the Moreno Valley Mall... perhaps they just couldn't afford the lease on such a large building. It closed in the midst of the area around Moreno Valley Mall being heavily developed with more retail and big box, and honestly the mall, which spent the better part of the 90's half vacant, was the most leased out I had ever seen. The writing was on the wall for this store for a while though, as I remember the entire upper level had been converted to the Gottschalks clearance outlet. I never really shopped there after the Harris' buyout, but always remember this one of the nicest of the Harris' chain.

The Harris'/Gottschalks at Riverside Plaza had become a bit outdated inside through the 80's and 90's and honestly I haven't shopped there since the plaza was de-malled a few years ago... but hopefully it received a makeover inside during the mall renovation. I remember that the entry to the basement level was located right in front of the main doors, about ten feet or so into the mall. Now this area is currently the "Main Street" through Riverside Plaza. During the de-malling, they cleaned up the outside of the building and added some new facades over various portions of the building.. but overall the exterior still has the same look it always has.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachme ... -1950s.jpg

I found this shot of the main entrance to Harris' prior to the de-malling. (Mitch Glaser)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AcUdTl7Aq-s/S ... Glaser.jpg

Live View
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 25 Jan 2009 19:18
by mike t. whittier ca
There is a Gottschalks store in the Antelope Valley, in Palmdale Ca. When i lived in palmdale i remember the store was always very slow, they also took over the harris store in the a.v. mall, it was like what macys has done to some of there stores, 2 different stores in the same mall.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 25 Jan 2009 21:40
by Jeff
I forgot that there were two Gottschalks there.

Wow, if Gottschalks closes, that would kill 1/2 the anchors in that mall.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 31 Jan 2009 04:59
by Dean
mike t. whittier ca wrote:There is a Gottschalks store in the Antelope Valley, in Palmdale Ca. When i lived in palmdale i remember the store was always very slow, they also took over the harris store in the a.v. mall, it was like what macys has done to some of there stores, 2 different stores in the same mall.
So, Harris and Gottschalks already coexisted in that mall before the acquisition? Is this the same mall where Dillard's is located?

Incidentally, noticed the Dillard's truck on the 10 freeway tonight. Must've been in transit between the Palmdale location, going down to the only other Southern California location in El Centro.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 31 Jan 2009 12:39
by Jeff
Yes. Gottschalks was the east anchor, Harris the center anchor. You can tell by Harris' modern facade compared to the standard Gottschalks package.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 31 Jan 2009 17:22
by storewanderer
I think Gottschalks closed one of those duplicate stores. Or maybe that was in Bakersfield where they also had two stores in the same mall, I forget.

Whatever the case may be, some reports last week were out and they stated if the company is not sold, at auction, in mid-March, it will be liquidated.

The upper level of many Gottschalks Stores is/was converted to a clearance outlet. I've seen this in Reno (closed), Sacramento, and one in Fresno.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 01 Feb 2009 02:42
by Super S
tkaye wrote:
Brian Lutz wrote:All of the Gottschalks in the Seattle area (acquired from the Lamonts bankruptcy in 2000) closed down several years ago, but I think there are still a couple of scattered locations in the outlying area (I know of one in Marysville, not sure about others.)
There are three Gottschalks stores left in Western Washington. The Marysville location is interesting in that it appears to be fronted by a tiny "mall" (more like a lobby!) with a few spaces that have no exterior access. Since this center was built in 1988, Lamonts was obviously the original tenant.

In Port Angeles, Gottschalks operates a traditional downtown department store, built in 1946. Prior to it being a Lamonts, it was a branch of the Tacoma-based Peoples Store, which folded in 1983. The Port Angeles Gottschalks and the J.C. Penney in Sequim are the only department stores on the Olympic Peninsula.

The third location is in Lakewood, which was the only Gottschalks in Washington for several years following the store's acquisition from the bankrupt Frederick & Nelson in 1992. It was the final new store built (1989) by F&N and is the only anchor remaining from the failed Lakewood Mall, which was de-malled and became the Lakewood Towne Center in 2002. Its lineage actually goes back to the beginning of the Lakewood Mall's predecessor, Villa Plaza, in 1957. Rhodes of Tacoma was the centerpiece of Villa Plaza until they were purchased in 1969 by Honolulu-based Amfac, Inc., and the nameplate changed to Liberty House. F&N picked up the Villa Plaza and Tacoma Mall Liberty House stores in 1979. Basil Vyzis, an eccentric self-made developer who had immigrated from Greece, bought Villa Plaza in the mid-'80s with plans to build an indoor mall on the eastern portion of the 100-acre site. He also became one of the Seattle-area investors who bought F&N from BATUS in 1988, so it was only natural that F&N would have a prominent spot in his new mall. Initially, F&N operated the old Villa Plaza store as a "Red Tag" clearance outlet for a short while after the mall opened.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I actually visited the Lakewood Mall as the mall was being demolished, and remember going inside the Target store and seeing what looked like a closed gate that led in to the old mall, which was located to the right, just past the restaurant, which was common for single-story Target stores. At that point, the Target looked like an unremodeled late-1980s store similar to several that opened in Portland/Vancouver around 1988-89 and could have been built at the same time as the current Gottschalk's, which would make Target also a remaining anchor from the failed mall. I will say I have not been back since the redevelopment, so I don't know if you can even identify where the mall entrance was any more.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 01 Feb 2009 04:14
by Brian Lutz
Super S wrote: Please correct me if I am wrong, but I actually visited the Lakewood Mall as the mall was being demolished, and remember going inside the Target store and seeing what looked like a closed gate that led in to the old mall, which was located to the right, just past the restaurant, which was common for single-story Target stores. At that point, the Target looked like an unremodeled late-1980s store similar to several that opened in Portland/Vancouver around 1988-89 and could have been built at the same time as the current Gottschalk's, which would make Target also a remaining anchor from the failed mall. I will say I have not been back since the redevelopment, so I don't know if you can even identify where the mall entrance was any more.
This sounds a lot like the Target store at Factoria Mall in Bellevue, which has a mall entrance next to the food court and unremodeled early-to-mid Nineties decor (the decor package with the different colored neon in the different sections, which is the decor package that the local Target had from when it opened in 1995 to when it got remodeled to the current one about three years ago.) That particular Target store is basically next door (from the outside anyway) to a former Lamonts that got subdivided into two stores (TJMaxx and DSW Shoes) with no mall entrances after Gottschalks closed, although that particular Gottschalks outlasted the other two Gottschalks (Totem Lake and Crossroads) on the Eastside by a year or so. Since that particular Target is slated for replacement by a new freestanding store being built in what is now the parking lot of the mall, it will most likely remain this way until closed (although the mall entrance may get removed prior to this due to other remodeling/demalling activity if they ever actually get around to doing any of it.)

In the Factoria Target store, the food court is right next to the mall entrance, with the 1-hour photo and restrooms behind it, and the outside entrance next to that. Based on that layout, you could expect the remaining outdoor store entrance to be off to one side near the corner of the building. Of course, this seems to be typical of single-entrance Target stores anyway, although the food court placement would probably still show this.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 15 Feb 2009 22:07
by tkaye
Super S wrote:Please correct me if I am wrong, but I actually visited the Lakewood Mall as the mall was being demolished, and remember going inside the Target store and seeing what looked like a closed gate that led in to the old mall, which was located to the right, just past the restaurant, which was common for single-story Target stores. At that point, the Target looked like an unremodeled late-1980s store similar to several that opened in Portland/Vancouver around 1988-89 and could have been built at the same time as the current Gottschalk's, which would make Target also a remaining anchor from the failed mall.
You're correct -- Target was also built as part of the mall. It has since been remodeled and there's no trace of the mall entrance. The only element of the mall concourse that is left is in the lobby of the movie theater -- the tile floor is still there along with the box office "island." For a couple of years after the redevelopment, a tiny sliver of the interior mall was kept near the vacated "Colonnade" food court. There was no exterior access to the theater and a walk-up bank branch still remained inside. Once the bank was moved to the Saar's Marketplace strip (one of the few vestiges of Villa Plaza), that portion was demolished and the theater was given its own exterior entrance and facade.

When I said "anchors," I was thinking of traditional department store anchors... along with F&N/Gottschalks, the Lakewood Mall was also anchored by Lamonts (which closed in 1995 after their first bankruptcy), Mervyn's (which closed in 2001 as part of the run-up to the Lakewood Towne Center redevelopment), and Troutman's Emporium (an anchor from 1990 to 1998).

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 01 Apr 2009 16:58
by Dean

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 08 Apr 2009 15:39
by Dean
This is a funny commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPltz2fu ... re=related

Is the building shown an old Broadway? Looks similar to the Puente Hills and Carson CA former Broadway locations.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 09 Apr 2009 04:31
by Daniel
I'm pretty certain the store shown there is the old Weinstock's store at Fashion Fair Mall. Gottschalk's got that store in a trade with Macy's after Macy's took over Weinstock's/Emporium. Gottschalk's got the larger end anchor space while Macy's turned the old Gottschalk's anchor space into a Macy's Men's and Children's store.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 09 Apr 2009 11:29
by hushpuppy212
It would make sense that it's Fashion Fair, since it's in their hometown of Fresno.

IIRC, Gottschalks and Macy's also swapped stores at the Fashion Faire Mall in Modesto, CA. When Macy's acquired Weinstock's, Gottschalks took the larger Weinstock's space and Macy's moved their men's department into Gottschalks old store.

As a kid, I loved those oddly-stacked Broadway/Weinstock's stores. Growing up in San Francisco, our department stores were boing old boxes, but the Broadway, May Co, Robinson's, Bullock's, and Weinstock's stores were way cool.

Re: Gottschalks

Posted: 09 Apr 2009 20:15
by storewanderer
I like this article the best of what I've seen about what happened. http://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/v-prin ... 73688.html