The Gymboree Corporation announced that, following a comprehensive evaluation of its retail footprint as part of its previously announced court-supervised financial restructuring, the company intends to close approximately 350 stores, mainly across the Gymboree and Crazy 8 brands. With the right size store base, the company will be able to focus resources on locations with the greatest potential and improve the profitability of the overall business.
“[This] announcement represents the next step in the company’s court-supervised financial restructuring as we work to more strongly position the business for long-term growth and success,” said Daniel Griesemer, President and CEO of Gymboree. “Right-sizing our store footprint is a central part of our efforts to ensure Gymboree emerges from this restructuring process as a stronger and more competitive organization, with greater financial flexibility to invest in our future. Importantly, we will continue to operate a majority of our stores and will continue to deliver quality merchandise and superior service to our customers at our Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8 brands. This was a difficult decision to make, but we are confident that it is in the best long-term interest of our Company, our customers and our broader employee base. I am deeply grateful to our team, their exceptional ongoing dedication and their focus on continuing to put our customers at the center of all we do.”
In order to ensure a seamless experience for customers, the company has partnered with Great American Group and Tiger Group to help manage the closing sales in its Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet and Crazy 8 stores. The closing sales at affected stores are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 18.
As announced on June 11, 2017, Gymboree signed a Restructuring Support Agreement with a majority of its Term Loan Lenders, securing critical stakeholder support for a comprehensive financial restructuring and recapitalization that is being facilitated through a voluntary Chapter 11 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.