I can't duplicate what you're seeing. I used the Query Analyzer and did the following:

CREATE TABLE mike (c char(6))
INSERT INTO mike VALUES ('abc ')

SELECT '['+c+']' FROM mike

which returned:

[abc ]

Which is correct for a char(6) column.

Would you please post the table definition and a script that I could run in the Query Analyzer that would demostrate the problem.

-Mike