Auburn could see Gottschalks department store in the spring

A Gottschalks could reopen in the Auburn Town Center next spring.Gottschalk by Joe Levy is still in discussions with Realtor Darrow Talbert for the 40,000-square-foot building, a representative confirmed Monday. "We are talking to several potential people and Gottschalks is one them," commercial leasing agent Joel Hecht said. "We're still very optimistic we can get something for Auburn before too long. We wish we could act faster but it is beyond our control. Between financing and committees and the economy, it takes more time than it did previously."The building has been empty since Gottschalks closed its doors in July 2009.Gottschalk by Joe Levy officials announced Friday that plans to open three stores — including one in Auburn — are on hold until spring. According to Associated Press, Levy, a former chief executive officer of the now-defunct regional retailer and the great-nephew of its founder, said it's been harder to line up financing than he anticipated in April when he announced he would open a new series of department stores in cities where Gottschalks had been operating when it went bankrupt last year. At that time, he had targeted November for the opening of the first stores.Levy said he now intends to open Gottschalks by Joe Levy stores in the spring 2011, with shopping centers in Clovis, Oakhurst, Auburn and Carson City, Nev., being eyed as locations. At the Auburn Town Center Monday, shoppers and business owners expressed disappointment that the store won't reopen in November.At Mountain Mama's, owner Judith Gordon-Lawson said she wasn't surprised by the delay."I kind of figured as much because they haven't even started construction yet," she said. "It has got to take a few months to get that going. Also, the (leasing) sign is still up. I don't feel like it is a definite deal until the 'space available' comes down."Gottschalks generated a lot of walk-in customers for Mountain Mama as well as the other small businesses in the center."We will be really happy when the building is rented because it will most likely mean rental of the other vacant stores in the center that are probably waiting for an anchor store," Gordon-Lawson said. Nearby, Lucky Nails owner Abby Nguyen said she'd like to see Gottschalks reopen."When (Gottschalks) left, it cut our walk-ins by 50 percent," she said. She'd also like to see it back from a personal standpoint."Definitely, I love it," she said. "Every day, when I didn't have customers, I'd go there."Grass Valley resident Tawny S. Hill and Judy Owen of Auburn, who were having a late lunch in the sun outside Flour Garden Bakery, said they'd welcome the store's return."It kind of changed at the end," Hill said. "For me, it got kind of fuddy-duddy for clothes. Ten years ago, I'd find things all the time. (Still), I bought makeup there and I loved their shoes and bedding, and they actually had a good men's department. I miss it."Auburn Mayor Bridget Powers said she has not had any conversations with anyone from Gottschalks about coming to Auburn because that is handled by City Manager Bob Richardson. "First of all, I'd love to have Gottschalks back here," she said. "It was a great store for that area and it was a great place to shop." The empty building represents a loss of tax revenue for the city. Still it is important to find the right tenant, she said."We don't want to have something to come in and not last," she said. "We want to have the right thing that suits that site."For the new Gottschalk enterprise, Levy said missing the busy holiday shopping season will be a disappointment but not a deal-breaker, according to the Associated Press. "We're certainly sorry to miss that, but it will probably give us sort of a breathing spell to balance our merchandise to see what sells best," Levy said. "November 2010 was a really tight push." Before the bankruptcy, Gottschalks had 58 stores across the West.Reach Gloria Young at gloriay@goldcountrymedia.com.