Shopping for toddlers at mall department stores can be a challenge for parents looking for clothing in the right style or size, unless they go to the store after it has recently been restocked.
However, I can usually find a sufficient number of styles and sizes at children’s specialty clothing stores such as Carter’s, Oshkosh, or The Children’s Place.
If The Children’s Place and Gymboree start closing stores, finding children’s clothing will become more difficult.
Natalia Lebedinskaya/Getty Images
Children’s Place, the specialty apparel retail chain that also operates Gymboree retail stores, has filed for Chapter 11 protection to restructure its business and find a buyer for all assets as a going concern.
The Secaucus, N.J.-based debtor and its 13 affiliates filed the application in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Nov. 8, listing assets of $742.3 million and liabilities of $881.2 million.
The 57-year-old debtor will also bring Canadian proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. The Debtors sought Canada’s recognition of the Chapter 11 case as a foreign main proceeding under the CCAA filing.
Children’s Place’s largest unsecured creditors include Hansae Co. Ltd., owed more than $15.3 million; Jingdong United Trading Co., owed more than $6.7 million; Investment and Trading United Inc., owed more than $6.2 million; U-Knits Inc., owed more than $5.5 million; Fast Sky Holdings Ltd., owed more than $404 million;
Debtors will seek to sell company
The company said in a Nov. 8 statement that the debtors are in talks with several investors about potential sales transactions that would allow the company to continue as a going concern and preserve the value of its brands.
The company plans to file a motion for a competitive bidding process with the court to obtain the highest and best offer for the company’s assets through a Section 363 bankruptcy sale. The debtors are seeking bid deadlines of December 9, 2026, with the sale to be completed by the end of December, the statement said.
Seek a DIP loan from a secured lender
The Children’s Home will also seek debtor-in-possession financing from its pre-application secured lenders.
According to WAFF-TV, Children’s Place has sent notices to employees at its Fort Payne, Alabama, distribution center saying that due to financial difficulties, the center will permanently close the facility on January 5, 2027 and lay off all 593 employees.
The debtor’s stores and e-commerce sites will remain open and continue to operate and serve customers, the statement said. The company has hired advisers GA Group, Tiger Group and SB360 Capital Partners to conduct inventory sales, the statement said, but did not list specific stores that would close.
The debtor has been facing financial difficulties since 2024, with reduced liquidity causing the chain to close 250 stores. The company was also considering bankruptcy at the time, TheStreet reported.
Founded in 1969, The Children’s Place operates 495 stores in North America, including Gymboree, Sugar and Jade and PJ Place locations, as well as an e-commerce platform, according to the company’s investor relations page.
The company designs and sources children’s apparel, accessories and footwear through third-party manufacturers and sells them to infants, toddlers and children at great value prices. Various franchise and wholesale partners distribute the company’s products
According to the debtor’s complaint, Mithaq Capital SPC holds a 61.1% stake in the company.
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