John Breuner Co

BAT Industries' decision to sell Saks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field's, two of the nation's most venerable chains, threw an already agitated retailing world further into a frenzy Tuesday. "Everything is for sale in retailing right now," said Walter F. Loeb, a retail analyst at the Morgan Stanley & Co. brokerage in New York. "There's so much available . . . that it has become a buyer's market."

BAT Industries' decision to sell Saks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field's, two of the nation's most venerable chains, threw an already agitated retailing world further into a frenzy Tuesday. "Everything is for sale in retailing right now," said Walter F. Loeb, a retail analyst at the Morgan Stanley & Co. brokerage in New York. "There's so much available . . . that it has become a buyer's market."

San Diego Firm Buys Furniture Chain: Arnold's bought the assets of Breuners for an undisclosed amount and assumed a small portion of the liabilities, primarily customer deposits and outstanding orders. Arnold's did not assume the core liabilities of John Breuner Co., which will use revenue from the sale to pay off debt. Breuners is a 138-year-old Northern California furniture chain that recently went through bankruptcy proceedings.

BAT Industries PLC said today it will sell its 18 John Breuner Co. furniture stores to Prism Capital Corp., a merchant bank in New York, for $92.5 million in cash. The deal is to be completed in about two months through BATUS Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of BAT, the conglomerate said. Breuners, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., was bought by BAT in 1982. The sale is one step in BAT's strategy of focusing on its tobacco and financial services businesses to fight off a 13.