Gottschalks next to go?

If the retail chain Gottschalks closes, Joan Monroe said she and her mother will have to drive to Sacramento or Chico to do their shopping.

"You just can't find the same quality of clothing anywhere else in Yuba City," the 59-year-old Colusa resident said Wednesday. "It would be really sad if it did close."

Speculation about the fate of the 104-year-old Fresno-based department store chain centers around Gottschalks' recent operating losses and the possibility it could run out of money by the end of the month. An investment commitment with a Chinese development company fell through in December, but Gottschalks said it continues to have discussions with that company as well as another party.

The company operates 59 stores in the western United States; 38 of the stores are located in California, including the Yuba Sutter Mall location. Gottschalks is regarded for its moderately priced and better name-brand consumer goods, but the chain is struggling: the retailer reported a loss of $18.8 million through the third quarter last year.

Managers of the Yuba City store referred all inquiries to Gottschalks' corporate office. Phone calls made to the Fresno headquarters were not returned Wednesday.

Monroe said she and her mother, Lois Tinsley, have made at least two trips a week to the Yuba City store since it opened in the 1980s.

Tinsley said she started shopping at the chain when she lived in Fresno decades ago because it carried petite sizes.

"This is one of the few places I know I can find something I can wear," the 5-foot-tall, 83-year-old shopper said.

Mike Geiger, general manager of the Yuba Sutter Mall, though, said he had no knowledge from the chain that it was planning to close or even threatening to do so. "It's business as usual here," he said. Gottschalks is "very valued here at the mall and by the community."

Geiger said the Yuba City store's sales did well in November and December.

Though the fate of Gottschalks is uncertain, several other local businesses have shut their doors in recent months.

In December, the Mervyns department store in Marysville closed as the Hayward-based company ceased operations after filing for bankruptcy earlier in 2008. Kbi Norcal announced a closure of its Olivehurst lumber plant this week after its San Francisco-based headquarters announced it would move to Boise. Idaho

Dozens of restaurants and stores in the Yuba-Sutter area have also closed recently; victims of the failing economy include McMahan's Furniture and Appliances and Burger Hut in Yuba City, and Zia Franz and La Salsa in Marysville.

If Gottschalks goes out of business, Sutter County One Stop Director Joe D'Andrea said the organization is poised to help retrain store employees. But whether the workers will need the assistance is unclear.

"No one has a crystal ball," he said. "There would be an impact if (Gottschalks) did close. It's a big draw for the mall."

The number of Gottschalks employees working at the Yuba Sutter Mall was unavailable.

Laura Nicholson, executive director of the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce, said the best thing for people to do is to shop local, think positive and move forward.

"Clearly this is a very difficult economy," she said. "But we have a lot of great businesses out here and we have to continue to move forward — we have no other option."

Gottschalks shopper Perry Morgan was not so optimistic. The Yuba City resident said he shops at Gottschalks at least once a week and will be sad to see it close.

"I think it would hurt the mall really bad," he said. "I'd hate to see it go."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Andrea Koskey at 749-4709 or akoskey@appealdemocrat.com