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Montgomery Ward goes under Nationwide closures include Medford store By Shari Downhill Montgomery Ward Inc., pioneered by 19th-century retail mail-order innovator Aaron Montgomery, is closing after 128 years in business. The move affects 250 stores nationwide, including the retailer�s 84,480-square-foot anchor position at the Rogue Valley Mall. After Wards� second Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy in three years, Thursday�s court filing was "unavoidable," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Roger Goddu. "Today�s filing comes after an exhaustive exploration of options for continuing the business," Goddu said. "Since 1997, we have worked hard to restore Wards to a viable and profitable retail company. Although our remodeled stores continue to produce positive sales ... we have not delivered the necessary financial result. ..." It was not immediately clear why Wards filed a Chapter 11 reorganization instead of a Chapter 7 liquidation, considering the announced closure and employee layoffs. Parent company General Electric�s GE Capital Unit decided to pull financial support from the ailing retailer following a sluggish holiday season with no hope of surviving amid stiff competition. Wards had struggled to survive a 1997 Chapter 11 reorganization with a $1 billion credit line provided by GE Capital Services. It also closed 150 of its 400 stores and laid off 22 percent of its 60,000 employees. Wards emerged from the bankruptcy reorganization just last year. Wards announced Thursday the company will close the remaining 250 stores and 10 distribution centers in 30 states and lay off the first 450 of the company�s remaining 37,000 employees. In addition, the company said unpaid vendor orders have been canceled and the majority of the company�s employees will be laid off during the first and second quarters of 2001.Wards� Medford store manager, Connie Hooper, did not return phone calls seeking comment on when the store would close or how many employees would be affected. Wards� Medford store moved from downtown to the Rogue Valley Mall in 1992. Rogue Community College moved into the company�s vacated downtown building. "Wards has been a good tenant and we hate to see them go," said Jeff Barber, Rogue Valley Mall general manager. "But, actually, this opens up a great opportunity for Rogue Valley Mall and for the Medford area. We�ll be looking at all the possibilities." Barber would not say what type of retailer might become the new anchor. Wards was founded in Chicago in 1872 as the world�s first general merchandise mail-order catalog business. In 1875, Wards offered the first consumer guarantee with the slogan, "satisfaction guaranteed." The company thrived as a catalog business until 1926 when the first Wards retail store opened in Plymouth, Ind. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.