Monty Standifer, who's taken back the reins, did not returntelephone calls for comment on his reappearance earlier this weekat the retailer's Carrollton headquarters. Gadzooks announced itwill break out of bankruptcy by midyear, but it's unclear if theplan's on track. A company spokeswoman says Standifer is still atthe assessment stage after being gone five years. Standifer was CFOfrom 1992 until 1999.

Gadzooks, operating 243 stores in 40 states, filed Chapter 11 inUS Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in February.Since then, its leaders pared 167 stores and pulled California fromthe roster plus eliminated more than 60 corporate positions. Justlast month, the chain obtained a $5-million loan from GryphonMaster Fund, a Bermuda limited partnership, to buy seasonalmerchandise and inked a deal with six investment companies to drumup $25 million in cash related to a back-stopped rights offering ofcommon stock.

Gadzooks is no longer covered by analysts, but its formerwatchdogs say the chain's replacement of a dual-gender lineup withteen-age girls' fashions might not be the answer. "It's not longerdifferentiating. Its stores are too small," Steve Denault, seniorresearch analyst for Minneapolis-based Northland Securities, tellsGSR. But then again, the chain had to do something to stay alive."It was either die a slow death trying to appeal to both genders orrefocus," he says. Gadzooks' shops range from 1,200 sf to 1,500 sf,about three times smaller than a typical GAP store.