Its 126 stores in the United States will remain open as it “executes a reorganization plan to improve its prospects for future growth and profitability, which include reducing its number of “loss-making stores” through store closures and lease terminations, strengthening its brand, and restructuring its debt.” (from Costar News).

One of its stores occupies a prime spot at the Glendale Galleria, just west of Nordstrom’s main entrance on the inside of the mall. A salesperson today commented that foot traffic through the store is “normal.”

For our love affair with the automobile, GM’s and California’s pension obligations, the monthly mortgage and other bills of laid-off GM lobbyists, and the paychecks and benefits of legislators and government bureaucrats who should be well on their way to figuring out how to create millions of high-wage 21st century jobs in the United States.

According to the Wall Street Journal, that filing represents “one of the largest real-estate failures in U.S. history, capping a precarious, months-long effort to juggle the crushing $27 billion debt load it shouldered in past acquisition sprees.”

General Growth is just one of many large property owners that loaded up on debt to finance acquisitions in the past few years, the article continues. They “now face mountains of that debt coming due.”

Why the Galleria, the Burbank Town Center, and more than 50 other properties are outside the filing isn’t clear. A restructuring statement on General Growth’s website says: “Certain subsidiaries, including GGP’s third party management business conducted by General Growth Management, Inc. and GGP’s joint ventures have not filed for protection.”

All malls will remain open for business, and the Glendale Galleria’s hours and operations have not been affected.

In his Traffic Court blog, David Bodamer transcribed General Growth’s media conference call this morning, during which Chief Operating Officer Tim Nolan said in response to a question on selling assets, “Our top 25 properties–some of the best in the country–could we sell 1 of those or 2 of those? Certainly that’s possible. But we think … relative to business plan we’re putting forward that’s not going to be integral part of the restructuring…. We believe we can maintain those.”

Nolan also said, “At the end of the day, our retailers want to be in shopping centers where they can get sales. We have some of the highest production shopping centers in the United States. … We take comfort from the fact that they are prioritizing our malls.”

Tropico Station’s recent post features a nice shot of the Glendale corner location. I was surprised at the large number of employees this chain has (according to cnet, 30,000+) across the United States, making it about the largest single job loss story of the past few months.

Circuit City is another casualty of falling market share in a shrinking economy. I wish good luck to its employees who will soon be looking for work in this economy. Here’s a tip: if you could explain how to make all those electronic gadgets work together well, and if you helped customers keep their current electronics working alongside new systems with a few tweaks here and there, your skills could be valuable in this era of “making do with what we have.”