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Strategies & Market Trends : Take the Money and Run -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (14850)	8/14/2002 3:04:12 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 17639

New orders must be piling up ;-)

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (14850)	8/14/2002 2:09:37 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 17639

of the 7000 announced AA layoffs approx. 1500 are in my area, the Post ran a cover pic with a woman crying as she rec'd her severance notification 08/14/2002 11:52:42 EST ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) - A year after seeking bankruptcy protection, Ames Discount Stores is giving up, becoming the latest victim in the struggle to survive against such titans as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. Ames, considered one of the last surviving regional discounters, announced Wednesday that it will be shutting down all 327 stores in the chain and winding down business, leaving 22,000 employees without jobs. Ames stores are located mostly in the Northeast, Middle Atlantic and Midwest states. "This was a wrenching decision, but the right course to take. Continued softness in sales, combined with tightening terms and slower shipments from our suppliers, have reduced our funds availability below critical levels," Ames chairman and CEO Joseph R. Ettore said in a statement. In its announcement, Ames said that subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District in New York, it expected to promptly designate a liquidator to conduct "Going Out of Business" sales at all Ames stores. In a court filing late Tuesday, Ames asked for an emergency hearing in which it would present a case to wind down the business "effective immediately." "The debtors have determined that winding down operations now will offer greater value to creditors by absorbing fewer ongoing losses," Ames' lawyers wrote. The company said stores are expected to remain open for approximately 10 weeks during this process. Employee Angela Latiff was resigned to the decision, which was announced to employees at the West Hartford store Wednesday morning. "I went through that with Caldor already," Latiff said, referring to another regional discount retailer, which went out of business in 1999. "I thought it was coming." Employees said there were rumors that they wouldn't receive any severance. Gina Kosowicz, 77, was at the store when it opened Wednesday morning to take advantage of the store's weekly senior discount day. She was searching for inexpensive shoes for her sister. "I'm sorry it's going out, because it's good for (inexpensive) things," Kosowicz said. "It serves a purpose, and if you wait a couple of hours this place will be loaded with people." Kosowicz said she wasn't surprised that the company was going out of business, citing the demise of the regional discount chains, which also include Bradlees. Ames, which had filed for bankruptcy last August, had hoped to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of the second quarter. The discount chain had gone through four rounds of store closings in the last several months. Ames bought Hills Stores Co. of Massachusetts in 1998 and became the nation's fourth-largest pure discount retail player behind Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target, according to Burt Flickinger, managing director of Reach Marketing, a retail consulting firm. Flickinger said that Wal-Mart will be the main beneficiary of Ames' demise, noting that Wal-Mart has been quicker to recycle real estate left from defunct rivals, better than its competitor Target. Kmart, which has also filed for Chapter 11 protection, continues to struggle and does not have the financial means to expand, he said. Analysts have said the Hills-related debt hurt Ames' financial flexibility. The company has previously said the weak economy was taking a toll on its blue-collar core market.