The Children’s Place is closing all its New Jersey stores amid bankruptcy reports
The chain plans to shutter locations in Blackwood, Cherry Hill, and Deptford, and lay off more than 700 employees statewide.
The Children’s Place plans to close its two dozen New Jersey stores — including in Blackwood, Cherry Hill, and Deptford — and lay off 732 employees statewide amid reports that the retailer may file for bankruptcy.
The North Jersey-based kids’ clothing chain is terminating operations in the state by early February, according to a notice filed Friday with New Jersey regulators. The company wrote that it “is experiencing financial difficulties and has not found a buyer to purchase its assets and operations.”
The Children’s Place executives have been considering reorganizing or liquidating through bankruptcy as the company struggles with declining foot traffic and high debt, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. As of Friday afternoon, a search for “The Children’s Place” in online court records did not show any bankruptcy filings.
In Pennsylvania, where The Children’s Place operates 22 stores, regulators had not received a layoff notice from the company as of Friday afternoon.
The Children’s Place did not return requests for comment.
The 57-year-old company has nearly a dozen locations in the Philadelphia area, most of which are at enclosed malls or outlets. The chain has stores at Cherry Hill Mall, Deptford Mall, Franklin Mall, Gloucester Premium Outlets, Oxford Valley Mall, Philadelphia Premium Outlets, Plymouth Meeting Mall, Roosevelt Mall, Springfield Mall, Tanger Outlets Atlantic City, and Willow Grove Park Mall.
» READ MORE: Philly-area malls aren't dead yet. But they are changing.
Like other children’s retailers, The Children’s Place has been struggling for years amid declining birth rates and increased competition. In 2017, it closed a store at the King of Prussia Mall, the Philly region’s largest shopping destination.
The company closed an additional 300 locations nationwide in 2020 and 2021. But difficulties remained.
Since 2021, The Children’s Place’s annual revenue has declined every year, according to earnings reports. For the three months ending Aug. 1, the company’s net sales were down about 20% compared to the same period last year, a trend that executives attributed to a drop in customers, according to its most recent earnings report. The company is estimated to have more than a half-billion dollars in total debt.
At the time, Muhammad Asif Seemab, who had been named interim chief executive officer in July, said in a news release that the company was “focused on cost reduction in all aspects of the business.”
“We are also evaluating our operating model to function in a profitable manner and improve our immediate liquidity position,” Seemab, who also served as company president, said in September. “I am excited about the opportunities ahead as we continue to execute on our long-term transformation plans.”
Seemab was one of several top executives who resigned from the company in the last week, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Children’s Place, founded in 1969, sells apparel for newborns through preteens. Since purchasing the Gymboree brand for $76 million in 2019, The Children’s Place has sold Gymboree clothing in store and online, alongside The Children’s Place private-label items.
On Friday afternoon, The Children’s Place website was advertising a “total inventory blowout,” with 25%-60% off all products in-store and online. Smaller print read: “All sales final.”
