Children’s Clothing Store ‘Gymboree’ Plans to Close More Than 800 Stores As Early As This Week

The times they are a changing. With the growing popularity of online shopping and the convenience of free 2-day or even 2-hour shipping (hello, Amazon Prime), many people are choosing to shop from their laptops or smartphones instead of gracing the doors of traditional brick and mortar stores.

Toys R Us and Babies R Us fell victim last year when they closed their doors in the U.S. after filing for bankruptcy. This year, another children’s retail giant is unfortunately following in their footsteps.

We’re talking about GymboreeThe first time Gymboree filed for bankruptcy was back in the summer of 2017. This led to the brand closing about 400 of its stores. Now, Gymboree is filing for bankruptcy again.

The children’s clothing chain owns more than 800 stores and is planning to close every single one of them as early as this week.

Gymboree Group, Inc., is the parent company for the retail stores Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Crazy 8. The verdict is still out on the high-end Janie and Jack brand, which they’re hoping to sell, but all Gymboree and Crazy 8 stores are set to close their doors for good.

The one Gymboree entity that is not affected by this announcement is Gymboree Play & Music. This branch of the company, which offers an indoor play space and classes for kids, was sold back in 2016. You and your kids can breathe a sigh of relief if they’re signed up for any classes.

However, as far as clothes shopping goes, if you have gift cards for Gymboree or Crazy 8 please run to the store and use them immediately. Considering the undetermined fate of Janie and Jack, we’d play it safe and use up those gift cards too.

As tends to happen when companies go out of business, the remaining inventory gets heavily discounted, so even if you don’t have gift cards to you, you might want to run to your closest store or take a peek at their website to stock up on shoes, clothes and accessories for your kids.

Currently, on the Gymboree website, all new items are 50% off and all sale items are an additional 50% off. We took a quick peek and found quite a few things we wouldn’t mind buying, especially at a discount.

For more information about this Gymboree bankruptcy announcement, watch the video below.

Does it surprise you that Gymboree stores are closing? Do you have gift cards you need to use?