Children’s Clothing Retailer Gymboree Declares Bankruptcy For Second Time In Two Years
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 01/17/2019
For the second time in two years, children’s clothing retailer Gymboree Group Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, offering the latest sign of the looming bloodbath in the retail space following stagnant foot-traffic during the holiday sales season (which was dominated by e-commerce), and the strain from higher interest rates. Gymboree, which filed late Wednesday, wasn’t the only retailer to file within the last 24 hours: Department Store Shopko also filed on Wednesday.
As part of its restructuring plans, Gymboree will close 800 Gymboree- and Crazy 8-branded stores in the US and Canada. In its press release, the retailer said it’s planning to sell its high-end children’s fashion line Janie and Jack, its online platform and its intellectual property – though all of these will remain open for now as the restructuring continues. Gymboree Play & Music, which split from Gymboree in 2016, will not be impacted.
The filing comes after Gymboree said last month that it had begun to review “strategic options” including a “sale at the brand level”.
The company previously invoked Chapter 11 in the summer of 2017, leading to the closure of about 350 of its 1,281 locations. The company was founded in the 1970s as a company that offered classes for toddlers and parents in Northern California, before diversifying into making children’s clothing.
The filing notably followed by less than a day a deal struck by Eddie Lampert to save Sears from liquidation.
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