The Parent Co. Files for Chapter 11

The Parent Co. and its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy. The multichannel children’s products retailer filed a voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE.

Subsidiaries included in the filing include toy merchants eToys.com and My Twinn.com, baby accessory companies BabyUniverse.com and DreamtimeBaby.com, luxury brands PoshTots.com and PoshLiving.com, and content sites BabyTV.com, PoshCravings.com and ePregnancy.com. Those subsidiaries are conducting business as usual.

“This action is an unfortunate but necessary and responsible step to preserve the company’s value for our stakeholders in light of the ongoing challenging retail environment,” said Parent Co. CEO Michael Wagner in a statement.

The Parent Co. has hired investment banking firm Oppenheimer & Co. to explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of some or all of the company’s businesses.

In its filing, The Parent Co. says it has $20,633,447 in total assets and $35,722,280 in total debts. Its largest creditor listed in the filing is UPS, which The Parent Co. owes more than $3.1 million. The company also owes Quad Graphics a little less than $2 million, and Google $267,000.

The Parent Co. changed its company name from BabyUniverse in January to reflect its spring 2007 merger with eToys Direct. When the merger was announced, sales projections for the combined company hovered around $160 million.