Citing lackluster sales and profits from its 89-store chain, Irvine, Calif.-based HomeBase Inc. has announced the closing of 22 stores and the conversion of the remaining 67 outlets into a home furnishings warehouse to be called House2Home. According to the company, no HomeBase stores will remain by the end of this year, with five stores in California and Nevada having already been converted.

The Silverdale HomeBase will be closed, but could be one of the units to be converted to the home furnishings “superstore” concept later this year under a corporate restructuring plan aimed at enhancing revenues and restoring profitability by January 2003.

If it reopens as a House2Home outlet, it would feature a selection of home furnishing products that include furniture, bath, bedroom, lighting, domestics, wall and window coverings, patio-barbecue, and party-seasonal items, as well as free, in-home computer design, installation services, home delivery, custom framing and a gift registry, along with an in-store gourmet coffee stand and cafe.

The Silverdale store became Kitsap County’s largest home improvement outlet on the day it opened in April 1992. But in recent years, not only the local outlet, but the entire chain, has faced increasing competition from companies like Home Depot, Lowe’s and local firms which have steadily eroded its bottom line.

In a prepared statement, the chain, which has warehouse stores in 10 Western states, said most of the units to be shuttered will be in the Los Angeles area, which increases the odds of the Silverdale outlet surviving to become a House2Home store. However, the so far the company has declined to identify exactly which stores will be closed and which will be converted.

“Despite our best efforts, we do not foresee the pressures on the HomeBase business subsiding in the near term. While we regretfully move away from the HomeBase brand, we embrace the positive changes that are about to come, and look forward to pursuing a more promising avenue of growth,” commented Herbert Zarkin, the chain’s chairman, president and CEO.

If the 100,000-sq. ft. Silverdale store is one of those chosen for conversion, it will have an inventory reduction sale this Spring that could last as long as 11 weeks. The store will then close for about nine weeks of construction and restocking.

The possible silver lining for the Kitsap economy is that the number of employees would increase 50 percent from approximately 100 to 150. Some of those jobs could be filled by HomeBase employees from stores closed elsewhere. Besides the Silverdale store, the chain has outlets in Tacoma, Lacey, Renton, Kirkland and Everett.