AMES Chain to liquidate at 4 area stores

This is the last round of store closings, the company CEO said.
BOARDMAN -- Ames discount department stores in Boardman, Austintown, Niles and Grove City will begin liquidation Dec. 30 and are expected to close in February or March.
Ames Department Stores filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors about three months ago, and now has announced the closing of 54 of its 387 stores across the nation, including 14 in Ohio and 18 in Pennsylvania.
The closings will affect about 60 employees at the Boardman store on Boardman-Canfield Road and about 50 employees each at the Austintown store on Mahoning Avenue, the Niles store on Warren-Youngstown Road, and the Grove City store on Pine Grove Square.
Remaining open will be stores in Liberty, Warren, Salem, Calcutta and Ellwood City, Pa.
Filed Chapter 11: Ames, based in Rocky Hill, Conn., filed for volunteer reorganization of the company through chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors on Aug. 20. Four days earlier, the company had announced the closing of 47 stores, including 15 in Ohio and 12 in Pennsylvania. In November, it closed another 16 stores, including one in Ohio.
Company spokeswoman Kathleen Moloughney said the stores were chosen based on an analysis of sales volume, demographics and market potential. The company expects the closings will help create a more profitable distribution system and help the company exit reorganization by the second quarter of 2002, she said. The closings will increase sales by an average of 22 percent in the remaining 333 stores.
In a prepared statement, Ames' Chairman and CEO Joseph R. Ettore referred to the shutdowns as the "last round of closings" that will give the company the financial profile it needs to move out of reorganization.
Reducing layoffs: Moloughney said the company will work to reduce the number of layoffs by moving displaced employees to nearby stores that remain open. Others will retire, she said. Overall, the company will continue to employee 24,000 workers across the country.
The discount retailer reported annual sales of $3 billion in its stores in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
For the first half of 2001 Ames reported a net loss of $54.2 million, or $1.84 per share. This compares to a net loss of $51.2 million, or $1.74 per share, for the same period last year.