For victims of tame violence. Sponsored by Catalyst Homely Clash Services. 800-895-8476 for times, locations. BABIES Prize BOOKS: 9:30-10 a.m. Chico Library, 1108 Sherman Ave. Storytime for newborns-18 months; Lib Playtimes in Children's Space for newborns-3. No sign-ups. 891-2762 or www.buttecounty.net bclibrary. PARADISE Centre FOR TOLERANCE & NON-VIOLENCE: 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. 6023 Skyway.

Support, advocacy for adults, children who keep been victimized by harassment, bullying. 877-1856 or online www.pctn.org. Weekdays. MISSIONARIES TO THE UNBORN: 10 a.m. 556 Vallombrosa Ave.; 891-0427. CHILDREN'S STORYTIME: 10:30 -11:30 a.m. Oroville Department Library, 1820 Mitchell Ave.

Songs, stories, crafts for boylike children. BINGO: 11 a.m.- 19 paper games. Drawings during lunch and $5 door adore at aim of games. Sponsor, Palermo Grange 493 Women's Activities. Palermo Grange, 7600 Irwin Ave., Palermo. 533-9211. 2031 Dr. Martin Luther Mikado Jr. Parkway. 894-1494. BIDWELL MANSION Country HISTORIC Advertisement PARK, CHICO: 12-4 p.m. Internal of John and Annie Bidwell, Chico founders.

525 The Esplanade. Hourly tours, guest center. 895-6144. WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL: 3:30-4:30 p.m., Our Churchman Saviour Catholic Church, 566 E. Lassen Ave., Sunshine Kids Club event. 891-3618. CHESS PLAYERS: 4-7 p.m. Oroville Library, 1820 Mitchell Ave. All skill levels. Teacher provides assistance. 538-7642.

CHICO Still AND Code CENTER: 6:30 p.m. Raj Patel's contemporary book, "Stuffed & Starved: The Dark Battle for the Microcosm Chuck System." 526 Broadway. 893-9078. CHICO LIBRARY FAMILY NIGHT: 7 p.m. Stories, movies for family, 1108 Sherman Ave. 891-2762. 1078 GALLERY: 7:30 p.m. Michael Swager. Dialogue on California Art: The Bay Environment and L.A." 820 Broadway.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Counted on Legend MUSEUM, CHICO STATE: 7:30 p.m. Museum Without Walls program, "What's That Up Your Nose? The Science of 'Taste.' Marian Baldy, Ph.D., School of Agriculture at Chico State. 545 Vallombrosa Ave., Chico Earth Recreation Limited building. 3 donation. Students complimentary with ID.

Clubs CHRISTIAN BUSINESSMEN: 6:15 a.m. Kalico Kitchen, 2396 The Esplanade, Chico. PARADISE TOASTMASTERS: 6:30 a.m. Cosy Diner, 6371 Skyway. 873-2533, 876-0275. WIDOWHOOD PROGRAM: 11:15 a.m. Location, 342-4291. CHICO NETWORK ASSOCIATION: Midday lunch, meeting. The Objective Zone, 250 Cohasset Road. Game networking. Beau McSwain, 342-2900. KIWANIS CLUB OF More advantageous CHICO: Noon. Manzanita Domicile in Elks Lodge, 1705 Manzanita Ave. SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL OF CHICO: Noon 1:15 p.m.

Manzanita Place, 1705 Manzanita Ave. 894-0550. Sugared ADELINES: 7 p.m. Rehearsal. Sounds of the Dale women's barbershop style singing group. Head Christian Church, 295 E. Washington Ave., 345-6995. CHICO ZEN SANGHA: 7-8 p.m. Trinity Methodist Church, 285 E. Fifth St. Rinzai Zen meditation, instruction, information; dharma talks. 896-1168, lgj chiconet.com. Health, emotional bed ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: 6:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. 1114 Mangrove, Chico.

Also, MOM'S AA: Noon, 5:30 and 8 p.m. 2550 Zanella Path Suite F, Chico; SPANISH SPEAKING AA: 7 p.m. St. John's Catholic Church, 435 Chestnut St., Details, compose P.O. Box 775, Chico, CA 95927. For bunch times, locations or to peroration to a recovering alcoholic, 342-5756, www.aabutte-glenn.org. THERAPEUTIC MOVEMENT: 9-10 a.m.

Curative congregation for women can be done sitting or standing. Helps regain area of motion, boost flexibility, cut swelling from Lymphedema, champion sure self-image. Any age, fitness level. 10 payment antecedent class. Enloe Cancer Center Convention Room, 251 Cohasset Road. Register, 332-3855.

BUTTE COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DROP-IN CENTER: 2-3 p.m. Fitness group. 109 Parmac Road, Suite 2, Chico. 879-3311. VICTIMS OF Private Coercion Ease GROUPS: 1-3 p.m. Drop-in Center, 205 Mira Loma, No. 10, Oroville. 532-6427. Also: 9-11 p.m. Drop-in Center, 6249 Skyway, Paradise. Sponsor, Catalyst Home Blowup Services. 876-0397. 24-hour crisis column 1-800-895-8476. CODEPENDENT Device GROUP: 1:30-3 p.m.

Butte County Behavioral Health, 107 Parmac Road, Suite 2, Chico. For those who accept a ornament of putting needs of others ahead of their own; besides friends and relatives of those who abuse substances or admit other addictive behaviors including controlling others. 891-2784. MENS RECOVERY: 4 p.m.

Contact Feather River Tribal Health, 534-5394, ext. 282. EMOTIONS ANONYMOUS: 5:30-6:30 p.m. 12-step assist band for learning to drive recovery from emotional distress. Cohasset Conference Room, Enloe Behavioral Health, 560 Cohasset Road, Chico. 332-5250. DEBTORS ANONYMOUS: 5:30 -6:30 p.m. Dream and recovery for debtors, over spenders and under earners. Faith Lutheran Church, 667 East Aboriginal Ave. Amplitude 6. Category RUN: 6 p.m. Happy at Fleet Feet and dart to track or Bidwell Park.

All levels. 345-1000, fleetfeetchico earthlink.net. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: 6 p.m. 8 p.m.

Established clothing and shoe retailers obtain been going into polity at the proportion of one a week. Others are reporting difficulties with the brawny climate. Persist week, Liverpool-based Ethel Austin bowed after weeks of hypothesis approximately its trading position.

It closed 33 stores and announced 181 redundancies at its Knowsley imagination work with all over 300 shop staff further expected to lose their jobs. The prospect of the remaining 270 stores and 2,800 employees endure in the balance.

And over behind weekend Federal Schoolwear Centres, a franchise step with 58 stores across the country, became the original to an-nounce administrators had been called in, adding to the list. It has joined Appropriate Retail, Dolcis, Stead and Simpson, Elvi, Model Mens-wear and Richleys Stewarts who called in administrators this year.

The largest of those, the fashion and gems assessment chain Catch Retail, had 250 stores, of which isolated half were saved in a administration buyout in February. And while some of the others accept been partially saved, they are even smaller operations. In addition, two international retailers are pulling elsewhere of the UK.

US-owned chain Mexx has announced it is to shut its 61 UK stores and Morgan has plans to hurried its 40 UK stores. Sportswear retailer JJB Sports said it was to fast 72 of its shops, with the loss of 800 jobs, after profits dropped else than 28% endure year. The dash is lifetime taken by distinct manager executive Chris Ronnie, who took executive charge after founder David Whelan sold his family's holding to a seam fling formed by Icelandic body Exista.

While the measures taken by the sportswear retailer are a consolidation rather than a retreat, another Icelandic investment group, Baugur, is looking to extricate itself from a struggling colossal street retailer. It has lay MK 1 up for sale less than four caducity after purchasing it for £55m from retail entrepreneurs Elaine McPherson, David Thompson and Philip Green. Ironically, it is Ms McPherson who instantly owns Ethel Austin, after purchasing the society condign before placing it into administration.

Weekend reports extremely linked her to a proffer for MK 1. Maureen Hinton, model analyst with Verdict Research, believes that the power is greatest for the likes of Ethel Austin operating at the expense heel of the market. It's so hardened at the moment," she said. Any retailers that get anemic propositions are going to be in danger. The retailers that admit fix it most hard are the price-led retailers. Over the ultimate rare years, costs posses been rising for all retailers so they gain to build gigantic volumes.

The larger retailers affection Primark, Tesco and Asda can fabricate those volumes, on the other hand Ethel Austin, Capture Retail and MK 1 can't compete. They tend to be in secondary locations where you don't satisfy the footfall. This year consumers keep been still also selective in their spending so any category of weakness shows up." That reluctance to spend was fabricated rainless in March's sales figures.

The British Retail Consortium described the month's clothing and footwear sales as "the worst for at least eight years", while across all sectors the fall in sales - of 1.6% on March, 2007 - was the worst for almost two years.

Helen Dickinson, attitude of retail at KPMG, said: "Retailers were hit by the dual whammy of an early Easter and wick weather still before factoring in the slowdown in consumer spending on the back of rising inflation, falling den prices and the appulse on consumer confidence of the credit crisis." WHILE consumer confidence remains on a knife-edge, the hovering street is getting buffeted by increased competition from online retailers, from the continued strengthening of supermarkets' clothing offering, and from increased costs and narrowing margins.

Verdict's Ms Hinton added: "Primark has place a parcel of impulse on the charge and centre markets, on the contrary its customer mould tends to be younger, so it's pulling customers from the fashion retailers. The direction of the profit bazaar has been across the market. As entail is weakening we carry gone a scarce considerable box retailers cherish C&A, Littlewoods and Allders. The extra traditional chains are growth replaced by and nimble offers."

It is Primark that has if some retail cheer this week after releasing its interim results yesterday. In the six months to Walk 1, Primark's revenues increased 25% to £899m as the chain claimed 10% of the mart by jotter - moulding it the UK's moment largest clothing retailer. It has opened a stable stream of recent stores in the UK, Ireland and Spain, giving it 173 shops and 5m sq ft of selling space.

Its flying colors may please analysts and reassure them about the health of the sector, however Primark's continued momentum is unlikely to benediction smaller players at the value-end of the who testament extend to stroke the strength for some time. Alex Turner reports Construe Are we investing sufficiently in selling Merseyside?