Target Valley Plaza

From Steven Mayer, Bakersfield Californian staff blogger:

We reported last week in The Californian that construction work on a planned Target store at Valley Plaza Mall has come to a screeching halt, sparking demands from several contractors for millions of dollars for work that has gone unpaid.
The $7.8 million project was set to replace the now-demolished Robinsons-May store with a new, 147,000 square-foot Target center.
According to a lawsuit filed in Kern County, the work has been on hold since late November -- and inquiring minds want to know WHY and HOW LONG it will be stalled.
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Gottschalbankrupt

"Going nowhere but down."

From bakersfield.com:

It’s done: Gottschalks Inc. filed for bankruptcy Wednesday.
And, court filings show, the chain is looking to sell itself — fast.
On the surface, it’s a reorganization case — Chapter 11 — but court documents show everything up to a liquidation sale is on the table.
No matter how you slice it, Gottschalks as we know it is over.
“It’s gone,” said Howard Davidowitz, a New York-based retail consultant and investment banker who heads Davidowitz & Associates Inc.
Even a bankruptcy financing deal with GE Capital means little, Davidowitz said.
“All it does is give them time to sell off pieces of themselves and liquidate the rest,” he said.
Mervyns, the recently liquidated retail chain, also had so-called “debtor in possession” financing, he said.
“Gottschalks is going nowhere but down,” Davidowitz said. “Nobody will buy them. Somebody might buy pieces of them. But nobody is going to buy the whole chain and keep operating department stores.”
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