L A Gear Company

L.A. Gear Inc., the once high-flying athletic-shoe maker that has fallen on hard times, said Thursday it is laying off about 30% of its U.S. work force and that it expects to close some or all of its seven retail stores. In all, the Santa Monica-based company said it is eliminating about 160 jobs, most of them at its headquarters and an Ontario distribution facility. The company will also eliminate some positions in its sales force. L.A. Gear, which lost $22.

As the city of Los Angeles goes, so goes . . . L.A. Gear. In new commercials for its once-popular women's sneakers, the company is using classic Los Angeles imagery to portray itself as a trendsetter. National TV spots depict the Hollywood sign or the Palos Verdes shoreline and end with the slogan "L.A.--It's in Your Head." The company is hoping the campaign will help re-establish its women's shoe brand as a fashion leader. In playing off its namesake city, L.A.

L.A. Gear Inc. said its first-quarter loss widened on a 42% decline in sales. The Santa Monica-based athletic and outdoor shoe company said its loss widened in the three months ended Feb. 28 to $11.6 million, or 59 cents a share, from $2 million, or 17 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $69.4 million from $120.4 million a year earlier. Gross margins, which rose to about 30% from 29% of sales, were $20.7 million in the latest quarter, down from $34.9 million last year.

L.A. Gear, the Santa Monica-based athletic footwear company striving for a financial turnaround, will release the results of its first quarter earnings on Friday. The company, which had a net loss of $22.2 million in 1994, is trying to rebound by concentrating more of its marketing efforts on its women's line of footwear products, which has been one of the company's strengths. The quarterly report will precede L.A. Gear's annual shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for April 18.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled Thursday with two former L.A. Gear executives accused of inflating the company's earnings and profiting from insider trading in 1990. Gilbert N. Schwartzberg, 52, a former vice chairman of L.A. Gear, and Arden Franklin, 42, a former controller, neither admitted nor denied guilt in settling the charges. Both men resigned from the Santa Monica-based footwear company in 1992.