Bon March to take over 2 Gottschalks locations

The Bon Marché will take over a pair of Gottschalks stores in Kennewick and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, as the Seattle-based department-store chain continues to expand in midsize Northwest cities.

The Bon's parent company, Federated Department Stores, said yesterday that it had reached an agreement with Fresno, Calif.-based Gottschalks to acquire its leases for the two locations. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Remodeling will start in August. Bon Marché Chairman Dan Edelman said the company is aiming to open the new stores by Nov. 1, in time for the holiday shopping season.

The Bon, Federated's Pacific Northwest division, has been targeting midsize cities of late, opening stores in Wenatchee and Helena, Mont., last year to bring its store total to 45. The Bon in Yakima will move to a new store in August, and a Redmond Town Center store will open in 2003.

"Other than Portland, I feel we are very well-represented in the major metropolitan areas of the Northwest," Edelman said. "Our future growth opportunities are in the smaller to midsize markets."

Federated's interest in Gottschalks became the subject of industry gossip in March after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Cincinnati-based retail giant was looking to buy the Fresno chain, which has 73 department stores and 13 specialty stores.

Michael Geele, Gottschalks' chief financial officer, said the marketing and distribution costs to keep the Kennewick and Coeur d'Alene stores "didn't fit in with our long-range plans." The company has 12 stores in the Puget Sound region and is evaluating the performance of all its stores, Geele said.

Gottschalks acquired the rights to 34 bankrupt Lamonts stores in 2000 and reopened 27 of them. In April 2001, Gottschalks said it would close its Northgate Mall location, but it reopened the store in September.

The Bon has a store in Kennewick's Columbia Center Mall. Edelman said the company will use the 40,000-square-foot Gottschalks — also in the mall — to expand its offerings of men's and children's merchandise.

In Coeur d'Alene, the Bon runs a small women's apparel and cosmetics shop at a resort. The new 44,000-square-foot location will operate as a full-line store.

Jake Batsell can be reached at 206-464-2718 or jbatsell@seattletimes.com.