GOTTSCHALKS, HARRIS STORES TO MERGE.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Gottschalks and the Spanish company that owns Harris department stores The Harris Company was a chain of department stores based in San Bernardino, California, with stores in the Inland Empire, Coachella Valley, High Desert and Kern County areas of Southern California that was acquired by Gottschalks in 1998. will merge, but the new single entity will continue to operate two stores in the Antelope Valley Mall The Antelope Valley Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Palmdale, California. Opened in September, 1990, its buildings take up around 1 million square feet (90,000 m²). Its physical main building, parking lots, and ring road businesses encompass an area a bit less than 0. , officials said Monday. Gottschalks and Harris each offers men's, women's and children's clothing as well as home accessories. After the merger, one store will offer women's ready-to-wear clothing, cosmetics, and shoes and the other store will offer men's and children's clothing and home accessories, said Alan Weinstein Alan David Weinstein is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley who works in symplectic geometry. Weinstein completed his Ph.D. at Berkeley in 1967 under the direction of Shiing-Shen Chern. , senior vice president of Gottschalks. It's likely that Gottschalks will be the men's store, but that has not been finalized, Weinstein said. No layoffs are planned for either Palmdale store, Weinstein said. Gottschalks announced Monday it had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to form a ``strategic alliance'' in the western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century with El Corte Ingles S.A., the largest retailer in Spain and owners of San Bernardino-based Harris Co. The parties intend to sign a definitive agreement by August. The merger would then have to be approved by both companies' shareholders. The earliest the agreement could be completed is mid- to late October, Weinstein said. The plans call for Gottschalks to acquire the stock of the Harris Co., a chain of nine department stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . El Corte Ingles in return would get 3 million shares of Gottschalks stock and $11.5 million of 8 percent junior subordinated debt Subordinated Debt A loan (or security) that ranks below other loans (or securities) with regard to claims on assets or earnings. Also known as "junior security" or "subordinated loan". . El Corte Ingles would also loan Gottschalks $2 million, exchangeable for Gottschalks stock, to refurbish the Harris stores, and commit for an additional common equity investment in Gottschalks within three years of up to $10 million. El Corte Ingles would become the single largest shareholder in Gottschalks and would be given two seats on an expanded board of directors. Based in Fresno, Gottschalks operates 35 department stores in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. |
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