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Closings And Financial Woes
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Closings And Financial Woes Quality Stores, Inc. (231-798-8787) is going out of business and closing 176 stores in 10 states during the first quarter of 2002. The farming goods retailer operates locations under the names Quality Farm & Fleet, Quality Farm & Country, County Post and Central Tractor Farm & Country. Tractor Supply Co. (615-366-4600), through a joint venture with Great American Group, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and DJM Asset Management, agreed to purchase the real estate assets for about 25 Quality Stores, Inc. locations and also will assume the lease rights for about 60 additional locations. After a complete liquidation of the existing inventory, the company expects to reopen about 85 stores in the Tractor Supply format by the middle of 2002. Tractor Supply Co. operates 323 stores in 28 states that supply equipment for daily farm and ranch maintenance. Lazarus (770-913-4000) department stores in Lafayette and Indianapolis, IN and Zanesville, OH will be closed this Spring due to poor performance. The department store chain’s parent company, Federated Department Stores, Inc., is closing the stores as part of a plan to refocus on markets and locations that have higher future growth potential. The company operates 48 Lazarus stores in IN, KY, OH, PA and WV.A&W Hot Dogs (859-543-7000), Regis (952-947-7777) hair stylists and Waldenbooks (734-477-1100) closed locations at the College Hills Mall in Normal, IL, last month. In addition, at the Coliseum Mall in Hampton Roads, VA a Waldenbooks location closed last month, as well as Egyptian Treasures (757-249-9023), Tumbleweed Pottery (800-880-5117), San Francisco Music Box (925-939-4800) and Julie’s Collections (757-561-3101). McDonald’s Corp. (630-623-3000) closed a two-level restaurant in the Empire Building at the intersection of East Broad Street and North 4th Street in Columbus, OH. The company continues to operate two restaurants in downtown Columbus. AMC Entertainment Inc. (816-221-4000) is closing a 16-screen AMC theater in Miami, FL. The closing is due to the opening of a 24-screen AMC megaplex within a mile of the location. The company operates 177 theaters worldwide. CoGo’s (800-472-1481) convenience store chain is closing 12 of its 101 western PA stores. Stores to be closed include locations in Sewickley, Beaver Falls, Aliquippa, Moon, McKees Rocks, Gibsonia, Green Tree, Emsworth, West View, Springdale, Plum and Brookline. The closings began in January.Kmart Corp. (248-643-1000) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection two weeks ago due to a rapid decline in liquidity resulting from below-plan sales and earning performance in the fourth quarter of 2001. The company plans to reorganize on a fast-track basis and to emerge from Chapter 11 in 2003. Reorganization plans include the termination of the leases of 350 stores that were previously closed or are leased by other tenants at rents below Kmart’s obligation. In addition, Kmart Corp. will evaluate the performance and leases of every Kmart location by the end of the first quarter of 2002. The company operates 2,114 Kmart and Kmart SuperCenter locations nationwide. Vanity (701-237-3330) a retailer of apparel for juniors, closed a location in Crookston, MN last month. The company operates more than 150 stores in the U.S.J.C. Penney Co. (972-431-1000) closed a location in Crookston, MN last month. The company operates about 1,080 JCPenney department stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico and Mexico. Service Merchandise Co. (800-539-3579) is closing all of its stores nationwide beginning in the Spring. The company, which operates more than 200 stores in 32 states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1999. |