Caldor

The landlord of four Caldor Department stores has filed for bankruptcy to prevent an auction of the properties that had been scheduled for today.The bankruptcy petition filed last Friday automatically cancels the public auction.The Four Centers Limited Partnership, which filed for Chapter 11 protection of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, listed assets of $22 million and debts of $23 million.Caldor leases four stores in Baltimore County from the partnership. The stores are in Golden Ring Mall, Westview Mall, Timonium Mall and Drumcastle Shopping Center.

A 61-year-old Severn man was arrested on theft charges Sunday after he allegedly stole a cassette player, a microphone and clothes from a Caldor store in the 7300 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., police said.A security guard told police he saw a man walk into the store about 5 p.m. Sunday and take a Sony cassette player from a display, police said. The man put the item in his cart, placed his coat over it, then walked out without paying, police said.The suspect had two bags with $137 worth of Caldor merchandise when the security guard stopped him. He also admitted stealing items from Giant, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart, police said.

A Long Island, N.Y.,-based chain of discount stores plans a major push into the Baltimore-Washington region, with the first store opening this spring in a former Caldor in Baltimore. National Wholesale Liquidators, a privately owned, family-run business, plans to open in April at Reisterstown Road Plaza. It will occupy the more than 94,000 square feet that formerly housed a Caldor. Caldor Corp. closed the store, an anchor at the enclosed mall, after that chain went out of business early last year.

A vacant department store that might become the next workplace for 1,000 government employees could pose health risks similar to those in the aging Towson office tower being evacuated, an indoor air-quality expert says. Baltimore County and state officials announced this week that employees at the troubled Investment Building in Towson would move within the next six months. Many workers have complained of breathing difficulties and health problems they believe are related to mold, fungi and other problems inside the 13-story office tower.

Two Baltimore-area Caldors are among 12 underperforming stores Caldor Corp. plans to shed this spring as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.The store at Golden Ring Mall, with 90 employees, and another at Cranberry Mall in Westminster, which employs 60, are scheduled to close, as are seven stores in the Washington, D.C., market. The discount retailer also will pull out of three New York locations.Eight stores will remain in the Baltimore region, including one remodeled late last year in Timonium and the newest, which opened several years ago in Parkville.

NEW YORK -- Caldor Corp. sent its creditors a five-year business plan yesterday that it said will return the discount retailer to profitability.The Norwalk, Conn.-based company said such efforts won't help the company's performance soon, though. Caldor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 1995."While implementation of certain aspects of the plan have just begun and are showing initial positive results, they are not expected to impact the company's near-term performance," Caldor said.

NORWALK, Conn. -- Caldor Corp. has stopped paying its suppliers as it tries to negotiate with creditors who want the company to sell its 145 stores.The discount retailer, which has operated under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code since 1995, "has suspended payments for merchandise shipments and has also suspended its receipt of merchandise for which it has not paid while it continues its discussions with other creditor constituencies," said Jim Fingeroth,...

Caldor Corp., the latest casualty of a retail war being won by mass discounters, said yesterday it will shut down for good this spring, closing 145 stores -- including eight in the Baltimore area -- and laying off its 20,000 employees.The Norwalk, Conn.-based retailer, with discount stores throughout the Northeast, has operated under bankruptcy court protection since 1995. The company announced Jan. 9 that it had stopped ordering or taking delivery of new stock from suppliers.The $2.5 billion company had attempted to return to profitability by cutting costs and closing stores -- including one at Cranberry Mall in Westminster and another at Golden Ring Mall in Rosedale last year -- but said it fell short of its goals.

Caldor Corp., the defunct discount retailer that has closed 145 stores, will try to sell 39 store leases -- including four in the Baltimore area -- at auction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the company handling lease disposition said yesterday.Norwalk, Conn.-based Caldor, which ran stores in the Northeast -- eight in the Baltimore area -- had operated under Bankruptcy Court protection since 1995. In January, after several failed attempts to return to profitability, the retailer said it would shut down for good by spring.

Kmart Corp. will convert a former Caldor in Catonsville into a Big Kmart store by November, filling one of five remaining vacant Caldors in the Baltimore area. Caldor in Catonsville Plaza has stood empty since May 1999, four months after Caldor Corp. announced plans to close its 145 discount stores throughout the Northeast - including eight in the Baltimore area. The 30-year-old shopping center on U.S. 40 also is anchored by a Metro Food Market. Construction should start next week, with the store scheduled to open Nov. 19, Susan Dennis, a Kmart spokeswoman, said yesterday.