BACK IN THE SADDLE; INVENTORY BUYER CORRALS STORES HOWARD & PHIL'S USED TO RUN.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

The company that gobbled up the remaining assets of defunct Howard & Phil's Western Wear has reopened two of the chain's stores, including one in the Valencia Town Center, and plans to open several more stores in California.

Utah-based Alta Montana Corp. Inc. purchased an estimated $3.75 million in Howard and Phil's inventory for about $425,000 last month. The company has since opened retail stores in Valencia and Orem, Utah, and officials are negotiating in California to move into other malls.

``We'll be negotiating with the malls where Howard & Phil's used to be,'' said Marc Didier, president and chief executive officer of Alta Montana. ``We should have another one open in the next two weeks.''

The new stores have a wider selection than the failed Howard & Phil's, he said, including Mexican boots imported and marketed by Alta Montana. Didier says Alta Montana has more than twice the inventory Howard & Phil's had.

But the revival of shuttered stores will not affect a creditor's lawsuit against the four McKeon brothers - Timothy, Monte, Joseph and John - who ran Howard & Phil's until its closure in May.

The creditor, West Los Angeles-based Coast Business Credit, filed the lawsuit June 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court. It alleges that the brothers overstated the value of their inventory and used those claims to borrow more money from Coast.

Coast officials said they did not sue a fifth McKeon brother, Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, because the congressman was not involved in management of the defunct Canyon Country-based company. He owned 20 percent of Howard & Phil's, which was founded by the five brothers' parents.

The reopened stores will have some of the same merchandise, fixtures, employees and management as the old Howard & Phil's outlets. The new stores even bear a logo with the skull of a longhorn, similar to the Howard & Phil's logo.

And Valencia store manager Don Williams, former general merchandise manager for Howard & Phil's and brother-in-law of Monte McKeon, said the new stores have accepted several gift certificates from the failed retailer.

``We're trying to handle . . . many of the outstanding problems that happened before, when it was Howard & Phil's,'' Williams said. ``But we have to be sensitive to the new company, too.''

While some former Howard & Phil's workers will be offered jobs at Alta Montana stores, Williams said there is no formal connection with the Howard & Phil's chain.

Former Howard & Phil's employees who have filed wage claims against the defunct company will have to seek relief elsewhere, he said.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Don Williams, whose brother-in-law co-owned Howard & Phil's Western Wear, manages a store replacing it in Valencia.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer