STORES TO SHUT DOORS GARDEN BOTANIKA, LECHTERS AFFECTED.Byline: Staff and Wire Services Housewares house·wares pl.n. Cooking utensils, dishes, and other small articles used in a household, especially in the kitchen. retailer Lechters Inc. on Friday announced a restructuring that will close 166 of its 490 stores, including those in Valencia and Palmdale, and eliminate 725 full-time jobs. Valencia was also hit with the closure of Garden Botanika, a personal care store whose Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large 3 story regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. It is the second largest mall in Los Angeles County. It is located in Downtown Glendale. location is also closing. Officials with The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. , which operates the Valencia Town Center, were out of town and unavailable to comment on the store closings. Harrison, N.J.-based Lechters plans to change its merchandising strategy, focusing on kitchen products of higher quality and launching a Web site for online sales. The restructuring will result in a $40 million charge. Lechters' shares were up 13 cents, or 36 percent, to 47 cents, in late trading Late trading Late trading of mutual fund shares occurs when investors placing trades after 4 PM receive the 4 PM price. These late traders can use the information revealed after 4 PM to guide their trades: buying funds when their current value is greater than their 4 PM value and on the Nasdaq Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. . The company's new chief executive officer, David Cully cul·ly Archaic n. pl. cul·lies A fool or dupe. tr.v. cul·lied, cul·ly·ing, cul·lies To fool; cheat. [Perhaps from cullion.] , directed a detailed analysis of the business over the past several months ``to determine the best strategy to return the company to long-term profitability,'' he said in a prepared statement. The restructuring plan includes scrapping its Costless Home Store, which has 11 retail stores, and closing 155 underperforming stores: 128 Lechters stores and 27 Famous Brands Housewares Outlet stores An outlet store or factory outlet is a retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public through their own branded stores. The stores can be can be brick and mortar or online. . Those closings will result in the 725 job cuts. Store-closing sales are to start within the next several days. In addition, the company will try to reposition its Famous Brands' off- price business, with nearly 85 stores, as a true outlet chain handling closeouts and clearance items from Lechters' core business. The company said it will continue operating 241 stores under the Lechters name. Lechters also said it has received commitments from two financial institutions for credit lines totaling $85 million. Garden Botanika is closing all of its 107 stores across the country. The company sells skin care products, cosmetics and related accessories. |
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