Motherhood Maternity To Close Store In Towson Town Center

TOWSON, MD — A company specializing in maternity wear plans to close more than 100 stores across the country as it undergoes Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. One of the stores slated for closure is Motherhood Maternity at Towson Town Center.

Destination Maternity Corporation — which includes subsidiaries Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity — is closing about 200 stores as it restructures its business and shrinks its brick-and-mortar footprint.

The stores will shutter by the end of the year.

In Maryland, the company reportedly plans to close three stores, including one in Towson:

• Motherhood Maternity, Towson Town Center
• Motherhood Maternity, The Avenue at White Marsh
• Motherhood Maternity, Westfield Annapolis

Liquidation sales have begun and will continue until the stores close.

Destination Motherhood Corporation has 3,200 employees, and the company says it will pay its workers throughout the Chapter 11 restructuring.

The majority of the company's stores will remain open; it has 436 locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Because of insufficient funds, it reported it did not pay rent at any of the 436 stores for the month of October.

The company also runs 423 leased departments (or stores within stores) in the United States and Canada, such as Motherhood Maternity in Macy's, which will continue to operate.

Factors Contributing To Chapter 11

According to the Chapter 11 declaration filed in October, parent company Destination Maternity Corporation has struggled recently, after hitting a peak in 2011. In the past five years, its revenue has gone down 33 percent.

Bankruptcy filings cited a decrease in birth rates, increase in competition and retail trends in its declining revenue. One quarter of Destination Maternity's sales (including all of its brands) are online, according to court filings.

Less foot traffic overall in brick-and-mortar stores have meant declining sales there, but the company says it pays above-market rent in a significant number of stores. As a result, it planned to close stores in these areas that were underperforming. It will shutter in Towson Town Center, although its lease there was set to continue through February 2024, according to court documents, which said it opened there in 2014.

Competition has come from other clothing options, too, court filings said, since "recent non-maternity women's apparel fashion trends have a more pregnancy-friendly fit," such as knit elastic-waist bottoms, maxi dresses and oversized peasant tops. Having such flexible options available for much of their pregnancy means women need maternity wear for less time.

Within Destination Maternity, leadership has also been a challenge. Because the company handles three brands operating separately, there is a level of operational complexity that has been exacerbated by Destination Maternity having five CEOs in the past five years.

As part of the Chapter 11 proceedings, bids for the company must be submitted by Dec. 5, an auction will be held Dec. 9 and the bankruptcy court must approve the sale by Dec. 12. The New Jersey-based company filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware.