Gottschalks set to open in Cottonwood Creek MallCLARE BALDWIN / The Frontiersman / August 30, 2000

WASILLA A department store that is moving into Lamonts' vacant space at Cottonwood Creek Mall is scheduled to open its doors on Sept. 7.

The Wasilla store manager for Gottschalks Inc., Walter Hinkle, said Gottschalks will hire between 15 and 25 full- and part-time employees from the Mat-Su area.

Gottschalks, which operates a regional department store chain of 42 different stores and 20 specialty apparel stores in the West and Northwest, bought the Lamonts Apparel Inc. chain on July 24.

On Friday, Fred Bentelspacher, a Gottschalks spokesman, said Gottschalks believed that purchasing Lamonts' stores in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington would be a good geographical move.

We're pretty optimistic we can do a much better job than Lamonts did, Bentelspacher said. Lamonts was in financial trouble for many years. We're not.

On Jan. 4, after 33 years of operation, Lamonts filed Chapter 11. Chapter 11 is legal action which freezes a company's debts but allows it to continue operating to repay its creditors.

Lamonts had hoped that by filing Chapter 11 it would be able to undergo enough financial reorganization to remain open.

However, Gottschalks Inc. offered to buy all 38 of Lamonts' lifestyle and apparel stores and assume all of the related leases, fixtures and equipment.

We felt that it was the best way for our creditors to recoup, said Rivian Bell, a spokeswoman for Lamonts. Another thing is that it was such a good fit.

According to Bell, Lamonts has paid back most of its creditors but is still working through the legalities of bankruptcy court. Lamonts plans to use money from its estate sales to repay all creditors by the end of the year.

Gottschalks offered jobs to all previous Lamonts store employees and more than 90 percent of the employees have accepted. The only employees not offered jobs were the 115 employed in the corporate office in Kirkland, Wash. The corporate employees received compensation and benefits through June 24.

While Lamonts only had annual sales of approximately $210 million last year, Gottschalks had annual sales of approximately $568 million. Between 1998 and 1999 Gottschalks' annual sales increased 13 percent and marked the fourth straight year of sales and earnings growth for Gottschalks.

Lamonts didn't do as well because it had no consistency in merchandise and too few salespeople on the floor, Bentelspacher said. Gottschalks offers top or moderate merchandise with many incentive programs. We are very focused on brands and have several of our own private labels.

Gottschalks sells such brand names as Nautica, Ralph Lauren, Union Bay, Esprit and Liz Claiborne. Approximately 23 percent of its stock consists of cosmetics, shoes and accessories, 28 percent is women's clothing, 23 percent is home-related, 11 percent is children's and juniors' clothing and 14 percent is men's clothing.

Gottschalks uses several incentive programs to attract customers. Every Tuesday, customers over 55 get 10 percent off merchandise, free basic alterations, free custom gift wrap for two purchases and free UPS ground service delivery for one purchase.

Customers between the ages of 14 and 22 can get special charge cards with a monthly spending limit set by a parent or legal guardian. The parent or legal guardian receives the monthly bills with his or her own monthly account.

Customers between the ages of 14 and 22 can also obtain a separate card that allows them to get 10 percent off regular and sale-price clothing and accessories twice a month. Kid Zone discount club members get 10 percent off all children's clothing and shoes the day they join, and every Sunday thereafter for a $10 annual membership fee.

Also, all charge customers who spend at least $500 a year can get up to 5 percent of their purchases rolled back to them at the end of the year.

All Gottschalks stores in Alaska are scheduled to open Sept. 7. Those in the Lower 48 will open Aug. 31.