Lehigh Valley mall children’s clothing chain readying to liquidate – lehighvalleylive.com

Children’s clothier Gymboree Group Inc., which initially filed for bankruptcy in June 2017, is readying to file for a second time, liquidate and shut down 900 stores, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The store in 2017 announced it was struggling with more than $1 billion in debt from a leveraged buyout in 2010, according to an NJ.com report. The chain then closed 450 of its 1,281 stores as part of its filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the NJ.com report said.

Gymboree last month began a strategic review of its three brands — Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8 — stating it planned to close all Crazy 8 stores and significantly reduce its Gymboree and Janie and Jack stores, according to a news release from Gymboree. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting liquidation of all stores is expected and Janie and Jack could be the only surviving branch of the three chains.

The state of these 30+ national chains with stores in the Lehigh Valley

In the Lehigh Valley, there is a remaining Gymboree location at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township. There’s also an outlet at The Crossings Premium Outlets in Tannersville. There are no Janie and Jack or Crazy 8 stores.

In 2017, no Gymboree stores in the Lehigh Valley shut down. However, USA Today reported these seven Pennsylvania closures: Gymboree, Exton Square, 342 Exton Square Parkway, Exton; Gymboree, Johnstown Galleria, 500 Galleria Drive, Johnstown; Gymboree, Oxford Valley , 2300 E Lincoln Highway, Langhorne; Gymboree, Beaver Valley , 528 Beaver Valley Road, Monaca; Gymboree, Lycoming Mall, 300 Lycoming Mall Circle Muncy; Gymboree, The Mall at Steamtown, 124 The Mall at Steamtown, Scranton; and Gymboree Outlet, Penn’s Purchase, 5861 York Road., Lahaska. There were another seven New Jersey locations in Monmouth, Middlesex, Bergen, Mercer, Atlantic and Essex counties.

To date, the company has shut down 375 stores of more than 1,280, according to PennLive, our sister website.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.