The Children's Place Files for Chapter 11, Seeks Buyer

The retailer that dressed a generation of toddlers now needs someone to adopt it. The Children's Place filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey on Nov. 8 and is asking buyers to bid by Dec. 9, the company said in a release filed with the SEC ^[1].

Its bankruptcy filings show $881 million of debt and $742 million of assets, Bisnow reported, citing Retail Dive ^[2].

How we got here

• The chain, which also owns Gymboree, operated 514 stores as of Aug. 1 ^[2].
• That fleet is less than half the 1,117 locations it had across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico in November 2014 ^[2].
• The company opened 19 new stores in its second quarter even as costs climbed, Bisnow said ^[2].
• Nine acquisition proposals have come in, with six aimed at buying the business or its brands and three at liquidation, according to CoStar figures cited by Bisnow ^[2].

But the company says it wants to keep running as a going concern, and every store and website stays open for now ^[1]. Existing secured lenders plan to provide a new term loan to fund the process, and a liquidator joint venture of GA Group, Tiger Group and SB360 Capital Partners is running inventory sales ^[1]. Some stores have already started closing, though the company has not said how many ^[2].

What it means for you

If you own shopping center shares or a strip center with a kids' apparel tenant, check the lease. In Chapter 11 a buyer can pick which leases to keep, so weaker locations may go dark early in 2027. A buyer that keeps the brand could still trim the 514-store fleet, so a sale is no guarantee for any one landlord ^[2].

Zoom out

Eddie Bauer, Saks Global and Francesca's have also filed for Chapter 11 this year, Bisnow noted ^[2]. Each one sends more boxes back to landlords at a time when mall owners have been reporting strong demand for space.