Liquidation World to close many area stores

Liquidation World, which operates three stores in the greater Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area, is doing some liquidating of its own.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company that specializes in bargain merchandise obtained through bankruptcy and other closeouts is closing 16 of its 18 U.S. retail outlets, according to a news release posted on the company Web site.

Local managers say the Spokane Valley store on East Sprague Avenue will remain open, while stores in North Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Clarkston and Moses Lake will close. Outlets in Richland, Wenatchee, Yakima and a handful of stores in western Washington will also shut their doors.

Calls placed to the corporate office asking for comment were unreturned.

The North Division Street store will close around the end of October, after a liquidation sale wraps up. A manager at the Coeur d’Alene store declined to comment on when that outlet might close.

Shane Kyhl, manager of the North Spokane location, said employees learned two months ago that their jobs would end, but haven’t had time to search for other jobs. Ten employees currently work there.

“We’ve all been working so many hours because we’re in the middle of going out of business,” Kyhl said.

The company, which operates more than 100 stores across North America, announced the store closures saying the U.S. stores have generated losses for the past five years.

Liquidation World Inc. is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and had sales of $208 million in Canadian currency in 2006, its annual report said.