HARLINGEN — Gymboree brands, the troubled children’s clothing retailer with brands including Janie and Jack and Crazy 8, plans to close all 900 of its stores, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The expected bankruptcy filing would be the company’s second in 18 months, although the Journal reported this week that the company was seeking a buyer for the Janie and Jack line and those stores could remain open.
Gymboree has closed several locations in the Valley but continues to operate a Gymboree, a Janie and Jack and a Crazy 8 at La Plaza Mall in McAllen.
A Gymboree store also is operating at Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets in Mercedes.
The company previously filed for bankruptcy in June 2017 and closed nearly 400 stores in the process, including locations at Sunrise Mall in Brownsville. At the time, the company had more than 1,200 stores.
The San Francisco-based company signed a restructuring agreement with its lenders to reduce Gymboree’s debt load by more than $900 million in 2016. Most of that was the result of a leveraged buyout of the company by Bain Capital seven years ago at a cost of $1.8 billion.
The Janie and Jack stores, for which the company is seeking a buyer, sell clothes for children 3 to 12 as well as baby clothes.
