Gymboree releases list of store closures as it restructures in bankruptcy

By

Rebecca Taras

Published
Jul 13, 2017

One month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, children's clothing retailer Gymboree has released its official list of store closures.  

The ultimate goal of Gymboree’s plan to close an upwards of 450 stores is to find the “right size store base” in an effort to get their head above deep financial water. Despite being forced to file for bankruptcy in order to offload an insurmountable $1 billion-plus dollars of debt, Daniel Griesemer, the chief executive officer of Gymboree, said in an optimistic statement last month: "We expect to move through this process quickly and emerge as a stronger organization that is better positioned in today’s evolving retail landscape.” 

Gymboree has already started the process of closing 350 retail outlets nationwide—not including Crazy 8 and Janie and Jack stores which the company also operates. The official list of ill-fated stores was released this week. Once the closures are completed, Gymboree will be left with approximately 900 stores.

It was previously reported that Gymboree said 35 percent of its 1,300 stores are leased from GGP Inc and Simon Property Group Inc. Considering the majority of the stores are located within in the mall environment where a decrease in traffic has been the demise of retailers big and small, it is no surprise that Gymboree couldn’t turn things around in a timely manner.