Peninsula Daily News news sources
FRESNO, Calif. — The fate of Gottschalks Inc. and its Port Angeles store hangs in the balance this week as the 105-year-old retailer approaches a critical deadline.
Would-be buyers must submit proposals by Wednesday.
If none steps forward, the Fresno-based company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, will go to a consortium of liquidators that are ready to sell off the merchandise and shut down the business.
The Bloomberg financial news service that three retail companies are examining the department-store chain’s books and could be willing to keep all or some of its stores open.
Any which file proposals by Wednesday will have to bid for Gottschalks Inc. at an auction next Monday.
Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said the suitors are Golden Gate Capital Corp. of San Francisco, Illinois-based GK Development Inc., and El Corte Inglés, a Spanish retail conglomerate that already owns about 16 percent of Gottschalks’ stock.
None of the companies, including Gottschalks, would comment on the Bloomberg report.
More information appears in Tuesday’s editions of the Peninsula Daily News.
