PORT ANGELES — City leaders were scrambling on Tuesday to begin the brainstorming process of how to fill the void that will be left when Gottschalks closes.
At a Monday auction, a group of liquidators purchased Gottschalks Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 14, and all that is left to be done is a judge must confirm the sale Wednesday.
It is still unknown when the Port Angeles store will close its doors, the local store manager, Ken Porter, said.
Porter said that although the closure had been confirmed to local stores, the timeline was still unclear.
“We aren’t really sure when things will happen or which associates it will affect,” Porter said.
The company leases the Port Angeles building at Oak and First streets from the K.O. Erickson Trust.
David Storm, managing trustee for the K.O. Erickson Trust, said the company’s lease would end in either July or August.
“We were in the process of seeing if Gottschalks would be renewing their lease,” he said.
“Obviously that didn’t happen, so we need to see what we need to do.”
Additional details in Wednesday’s editions of the Peninsula Daily News.
