Pace Membership Warehouse Inc

Major retailer K mart Corp. will purchase Pace Membership Warehouse Inc. for about $322 million under an agreement announced Monday. The board of Pace has approved the agreement and recommended that stockholders tender their shares, K mart and Pace said in a joint statement. K mart is to pay $23 a share. The acquisition of Pace would expand discounter K mart's business in warehouse-style retailing. K mart already has a warehouse club chain, Makro Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will convert four Pace Club membership warehouse stores in Orange County to Sam's Club warehouse stores early in January, the company said. The four stores to be converted will become the first Sam's Club warehouse stores in the county. The Pace store in Irvine will be closed Monday and Tuesday and will reopen Wednesday. The Stanton and Fullerton stores will be closed Wednesday and Thursday and will reopen Jan. 7. The Fountain Valley store will be closed Jan.

Until late 1985, Price Co. had the Southern California discount membership warehouse market virtually to itself, its home turf untrammeled by the growing ranks of discount chains seeking to copy the Price Club's cash-and-carry operation. But Price, a $2.6-billion, 27-warehouse company headquartered here, is beginning to face an onslaught of competitors.

Kmart Corp. said Tuesday that it will sell 91 of its 113 Pace Membership stores to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., abandoning its money-losing discount warehouse operation and setting the stage for more intense competition between the surviving warehouse giants: Wal-Mart's Sam's Club and Price/Costco. The $300-million sales agreement gives Wal-Mart an opportunity to expand and challenge Price/Costco in markets where it has little or no presence, particularly California.

Kmart Corp. said Tuesday that it will sell 91 of its 113 Pace Membership stores to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., abandoning its money-losing discount warehouse operation and setting the stage for more intense competition between the surviving warehouse giants: Wal-Mart's Sam's Club and Price/Costco. The $300-million sales agreement gives Wal-Mart an opportunity to expand and challenge Price/Costco in markets where it has little or no presence, particularly California.

Kmart May Spin Off Units: The nation's second-largest retailer may spin off some of its fast-growing specialty stores to boost shareholder value, Chairman Joseph Antonini said. Shares of fast-growing companies typically trade at a higher ratio to earnings than slower-growing groups. Three of Kmart's six specialty stores--Pace Membership Warehouse, Builders Square and OfficeMax--are growing rapidly and would benefit if traded separately, analysts said. Kmart's specialty unit sales are up 7.

After exploiting nearly all of the "virgin" territory in metropolitan areas throughout the country, the major membership warehouse chains have been forced to slug it out in regions where their competitors are already entrenched. The blood has already begun to flow in cities such as Denver and Philadelphia, where San Diego-based Price Co. is going head-to-head with Sam's Club and Pace Membership Warehouse. The only big player not in those markets is Costco Wholesale.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will convert four Pace Club membership warehouse stores in Orange County to Sam's Club warehouse stores early in January, the company said. The four stores to be converted will become the first Sam's Club warehouse stores in the county. The Pace store in Irvine will be closed Monday and Tuesday and will reopen Wednesday. The Stanton and Fullerton stores will be closed Wednesday and Thursday and will reopen Jan. 7. The Fountain Valley store will be closed Jan.

Moody's Downgrades Kmart Ratings: Kmart Corp.'s long-term debt and preferred stock ratings were lowered by Moody's Investors Service, so it will be more expensive for the nation's second-largest retailer to borrow money. Moody's cited concern about competition from other discount chains and specialty stores. It lowered Kmart's senior debt to A2 from A1 and its preferred stock to A3 from A2. It also cut the rating on Kmart's Pace Membership Warehouse Inc. subsidiary to A3 from A2. About $2.

Major retailer K mart Corp. will purchase PACE Membership Warehouse Inc. for about $322 million under an agreement announced today. The board of PACE has approved the agreement and recommended that stockholders tender their shares, K mart and PACE said in a joint news release. K mart will pay $23 a share. The acquisition of PACE would expand discounter K mart's business in warehouse retailing. K mart already has a warehouse club chain, called Makro Inc.

Kmart May Spin Off Units: The nation's second-largest retailer may spin off some of its fast-growing specialty stores to boost shareholder value, Chairman Joseph Antonini said. Shares of fast-growing companies typically trade at a higher ratio to earnings than slower-growing groups. Three of Kmart's six specialty stores--Pace Membership Warehouse, Builders Square and OfficeMax--are growing rapidly and would benefit if traded separately, analysts said. Kmart's specialty unit sales are up 7.

After exploiting nearly all of the "virgin" territory in metropolitan areas throughout the country, the major membership warehouse chains have been forced to slug it out in regions where their competitors are already entrenched. The blood has already begun to flow in cities such as Denver and Philadelphia, where San Diego-based Price Co. is going head-to-head with Sam's Club and Pace Membership Warehouse. The only big player not in those markets is Costco Wholesale.

Major retailer K mart Corp. will purchase Pace Membership Warehouse Inc. for about $322 million under an agreement announced Monday. The board of Pace has approved the agreement and recommended that stockholders tender their shares, K mart and Pace said in a joint statement. K mart is to pay $23 a share. The acquisition of Pace would expand discounter K mart's business in warehouse-style retailing. K mart already has a warehouse club chain, Makro Inc.

Until late 1985, Price Co. had the Southern California discount membership warehouse market virtually to itself, its home turf untrammeled by the growing ranks of discount chains seeking to copy the Price Club's cash-and-carry operation. But Price, a $2.6-billion, 27-warehouse company headquartered here, is beginning to face an onslaught of competitors.

On behalf of PACE Membership Warehouse Inc., I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many organizations and the entire community for their responsiveness and assistance in handling the Oct. 9 robbery attempt at our warehouse on Florence Avenue. While an incident of this nature and magnitude is certainly a tragedy, it also serves to confirm how a community can pull together in time of crisis. The level of professionalism, cooperation and coordination displayed by the organizations responding to the emergency was tremendous.