Review of Major News Events from Top U.S. Retailers, March 22-28, 2009

The biggest retail Chapter 11 news, though, came from Gottschalk’s, which is scheduled to be auctioned off in a legal office in Wilmington, DE on Monday morning. A last-minute bidder surfaced this week when a Chinese government-owned conglomerate announced that it would take up a paddle in the bidding.

Chinese retail and real estate company Shandong Commercial Group will be bidding against two U.S. liquidation companies, both of which intend to close the 58-store Gottschalk’s chain after selling off all its assets and inventory.

The closing of the 105 year-old Fresno-based retailer seemed certain last week. The same fate for Gottschalk’s still seems highly likely, since Shandong would be required to pay an extra $1 million breakup fee if it wins. For now, though, 5,200 Gottschalk’s employees are reporting for work this weekend, wondering if the department store of German heritage might have a future with a new nationality.

While this year’s retail store closing list did get a little longer this week, the 2009 store opening announcements kept pace, which netted a refreshing neutrality. Along with their fourth-quarter sales reports, many retailers were brave enough to commit to their expansion plans. Among them were Abercrmbie & Fitch, American Eagle, IO Metro, Wet Seal, Cato, Best Buy, Kirkland’s, Gamer Doc, and El Dorado Furniture.

Aldi’s opened a store in West Haven this week, its first in the state of Connecticut, and the 1000th store in its 29-state chain. The milestone opening was not flashy, but what do you expect from a discount retailer that mostly sells its own branded products, charges a 25-cent deposit to use its shopping carts, and has a BYOB policy? (It’s strictly a “Bring Your Own Bags” operation.) Obviously Aldi’s shoppers don’t mind the no-frills shopping experience because the company is on track to open 80 new stores this year.

With retailers in and retailers out, with store numbers up and store numbers down, this week in the retail industry gave us a graphic look at what the term “mixed outlook” really means.