Gottschalks (former NYSE ticker symbol GOT) was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states (California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada); some locations ran as Harris-Gottschalks stores. Prior to liquidation, it was the largest independently owned, publicly traded department store chain in the United States. On January 14, 2009, Gottschalks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This bankruptcy became a liquidation on March 31, 2009. At least five prime locations became Macy's stores, while several more became Forever 21 stores.

Gottschalks was founded by German Jewish immigrant Emil Gottschalk in 1904 as a dry goods store in downtown Fresno, California. Ten years later, the store grew enough to move into another building downtown with ten times the amount of space. Before his passing in 1939, Emil passed control to his brother-in-law, Henry Korn and his nephew, Abe Blum. The company opened its first branch store in Merced in 1961 and new stores in Visalia and Fresno. In a strategy to win over teenage baby-boomers, Gottschalks launched Bobbie West, a chain of junior apparel stores, in the late 1960s. Village East shops, which offered plus-sized women's clothing, were launched in 1970.

Irving (Bill) Levy served as the 4th of seven presidents in the 105 years that Gottschalks operated. Upon Irving Levy's death in 1981, his son Joseph Levy became CEO and chairman of the board until James Famalette was elevated to these positions in 1999 and 2007, respectively.

Gottschalks gained success by locating only in smaller cities that could not support full-size national department stores. This tactic kept Gottschalks' overhead low by allowing it to build smaller (80,000- to 110,000-square-foot), single-level stores with lower real estate costs. More often than not, it also made Gottschalks "the only game in town", with virtually no competition from other national department stores.

The chief executives of Gottschalks, Inc. following the death of Emil Gottschalk:

Presidents/chief operating officers who served after Irving Levy's death in 1981:

Abe Blum (died 1963) had a degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University,- and was responsible for installing one of Fresno's first air conditioning systems and was among the first retailers in the area to accept bank credit cards. According to a 1977 Chain Store Age Executive article, in 1976 Gottschalks became America's first department store to totally automate sales transactions. The company installed electronic point of sale (POS) "wands" that read bar codes and store credit cards. This technology helped increase efficiency, reduce errors, and keep inventory and customer billing up to date.

The number of Gottschalks units doubled from nine in 1985 to 18 in 1988 and annual revenues increased from $112 million to $196 million in the process. Part of this growth came via the acquisition of two small family-run department store chains in 1987 and 1988, for a total of $11 million.