 |
|
|
|
|
City Beat
McWhorter's closes after 19 years in business
Walgreens will likely buy store and open a drugstore there
By Kate Carter
McWhorter's Stationers is preparing to say "goodbye" to Willow Glen, and a Walgreens pharmacy may be coming to say "hello."
The store, 1615 Meridian Ave., is closing later this month after nearly 20 years in business. The company that owned the McWhorter's chain, U.S. Office Products, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this spring, and most of the McWhorter's stores are being liquidated by the bankruptcy court.
"It was a sad event for all of us," said John Arthur, McWhorter's chief financial officer. "Especially because McWhorter's was doing well."
Walgreens was one of several companies that has successfully bid to buy some of the San Jose-based chain's 27 stores, including the one in Willow Glen, that are located from Sacramento to Monterey, Arthur said.
Walgreens spokeswoman Carol Hively said the transaction was not yet concluded but could be this week. She said the company would like to open a drugstore in the McWhorter's building.
Until then, Willow Glen's McWhorter's will continue selling off its inventory at reduced prices, manager Pat Marsh said. About half the store has already been emptied.
Marsh, who has been the store's manager since February, but remembers the McWhorter's there from his childhood, said the store has had little trouble emptying its shelves.
"The first day, we did 10 times our normal business," he said, referring to the discounts. "And then it was only 20 percent off."
Now, he said, most items have been reduced to between 50 and 70 percent off.
The Willow Glen store has about 16 employees, employee Celia Schleeter said. Marsh said the full-time employees are getting some small compensation for losing their jobs, but "it's not like it's going to pay the rent. I've got to go out and look for a job."
Marsh said he hasn't had much time to look for new employment, though, while he tries to get the store closed down.
Velma Straight, who has worked at the store for five years, said she started there two months after her husband died. She said the job helped her recover from her grief.
Steve Meyberg, of Gunther's Restaurant and Catering, a few doors down from McWhorter's, said he, too, will miss the store.
Arthur said U.S. Office Products, which bought McWhorter's in 1996, filed for bankruptcy on Mar. 5. McWhorter's management had proposed a plan to buy the company in late April, he said, but the bankruptcy court determined the company was more valuable sold in parts than kept together.
"We were caught in the middle of the bidding process," Arthur said. "Selling off the pieces was worth more. But there may be a semi-happy ending."
Arthur was referring to recent developments that would keep 11 area McWhorter's stores open. On July 12, Ideal Stationers, a San Francisco-based company, won a bid to buy 10 McWhorter's stores, including one in Campbell and one in Los Gatos, Arthur said.
Those stores will keep the McWhorter's name, he said, and Ideal Stationers has already approached some McWhorter's employees about continuing to work in the stores.
|
|
|
|
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
