Kohl's, Forever 21 buy 46 Mervyns stores

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Executives at Kohl's and Forever 21 say they will work quickly to convert the 46 Mervyns stores they jointly bought for $6.25 million.

Most of the stores are in California, where Mervyns for years had a strong retail presence before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

Their winning bid will give Kohl's, based in Wisconsin, access to "under-penetrated markets" and enable Forever 21, based in California, to begin big-box expansions, the Times reported.

"We got exactly the stores that we wanted," said Christopher Lee, senior vice president at Forever 21, which plans to take over 15 former Mervyns sites.

The new Forever 21 locations in California include Lakewood Center in Lakewood, Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos, Montebello Town Center in Montebello and the Mall of Victor Valley in Victorville.

The new Kohl's sites in California include Stonewood Center in Downey, South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach and Whittwood Town Center in Whittier.