ORIGINAL HOWARD AND PHIL'S CLOSING.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Listen here, y'all: Howard and Phil's Western Wear, a Santa Clarita Valley success story that spawned a congressman, will close its flagship store this weekend and customers can rope in the deals.

Through Saturday, the Soledad Canyon Road store will liquidate its inventory. The other local Howard and Phil's outlet, in the Valencia Town Center, will remain as one of the chain's 16 stores in California, Nevada and Utah, said Joseph McKeon, company president of the family business.

He and his four brothers - Tim, John, Monte and Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, a Republican member of the House of Representatives - jointly own the business, which was started 36 years ago in Canyon Country by their parents, Howard and Phyllis.

Buck McKeon, the congressman in cowboy boots, resigned his position on the board of directors and hasn't been involved in the day-to-day operation of the company since voters first sent him to Capitol Hill in 1992.

``We've always kept this (store) because this is the one where we originally started,'' said Joseph McKeon. ``We just had this one because we had the corporate offices here. We're only eight minutes from the mall, so (the Canyon Country location) has really been more of a convenient thing for those who live here.''

The chain's original location was on Soledad near Sierra Highway. The store moved to its current site, a shopping plaza on Soledad and Camp Plenty Road, about 20 years ago, Joseph McKeon said.

Over the years, the company grew to one of the nation's largest retailers of western clothing, peaking in the early 1990s with 52 stores. The company namesakes died in 1991 and 1989, respectively.

And the country music-propelled trend that made Howard and Phil's cash registers ring eventually ran its course and sales fell off, prompting the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 1996.

McKeon said Howard and Phil's has closed 27 stores in the past three years in an effort to streamline its operation and repay its creditors. He estimated that, among its 16 stores and company headquarters, the chain has a lean work force of 150.

Although the Canyon Country site will close, he noted, Howard and Phil's is adding stores in other cities. This month, an outlet opened in Sandy, Utah, and a Northern California store will open in April in Santa Rosa.

Negotiations are under way to add a store in the Puente Hills Mall in eastern Los Angeles County. ``We're in discussions with Temecula, which is opening a mall,'' Joseph McKeon said.

Meanwhile, though, customers have been snapping up some bargains before the Canyon Country store closes its doors on Saturday. ``They're excited to see the values,'' McKeon said.

Take, for instance, the cowboy boots, many marked half-price and some discounted 70 percent. Under the wall-mounted head of a bighorn ram, are rows of chapeaus for the urban cowpoke.

``Our basic customer is the individual who would attend a Kenny Rogers concert or a Garth Brooks concert,'' McKeon said.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Western clothing retailer Howard and Phil's is closing its flagship Canyon Country store, offering customers deep discounts on merchandise, including Wranglers.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News