Exton Square's Gymboree To Close, Company Says

EXTON, PA — The Gymboree Corporation announced Tuesday that it plans to close 350 stores, mainly across the Gymboree and Crazy 8 brands, as part of a previously announced, court-supervised “financial restructuring.”

The list of stores that will close includes the Gymboree at Exton Square , according to the company’s website.

The Gymboree Corporation stated that the closures will enable it to “focus resources on locations with the greatest potential and improve the profitability of the overall business.”

According to a company news release, as of April 29, it operated a total of 1,281 retail stores:

• 582 Gymboree stores (532 in the United States, 49 in Canada and 1 in Puerto Rico)
• 172 Gymboree Outlet stores (171 in the United States and 1 in Puerto Rico)
• 149 Janie and Jack shops (148 in the United States and 1 in Puerto Rico)
• 378 Crazy 8 stores in the United States

“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,” said Daniel Griesemer, president and CEO of Gymboree.

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. For those interested in these sales, updated information will be available on the company’s restructuring website at www.gymboreerestructuring.com.
According to the company, as announced on June 11, Gymboree signed a Restructuring Support Agreement with a majority of its Term Loan Lenders, securing 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.

Additional information regarding Gymboree’s financial restructuring including court filings and information about the claims process are available at https://cases.primeclerk.com/g... or by calling Gymboree’s claims agent, Prime Clerk, at 844-822-9233 (or 646-486-7945 for international calls) or by sending an email to gymboreeinfo@PrimeClerk.com.

Featuring reporting from Patch correspondent Eric Kiefer

Photo: Flickr Commons