The Children’s Place Expected To Close 300 Stores; Liquidation Sales Expected

Another retail favorite is falling victim to COVID-19 - this time, The Children's Place has announced it will close nearly 300 stores over the next 2 years.

The children’s clothing retailer cited an increase in e-commerce as one of the factors in the decision to close the stores, many of which are located in malls. So get ready parents, it's looking like more online shopping is in the future for us. It's already difficult for me to buy clothes for my daughter that she won't grow out of in 2 weeks, but now sizes will be a guessing game.

The first wave of closures, nearly 200 stores, is expected to happen by the end of 2020, with an additional 100 stores slated to close in 2021.

According to a press release, net sales for the company decreased 38.1% to $255.2 million in the three months ended May 2, 2020 from $412.4 million in the three months ended May 4, 2019, primarily as a result of temporary store closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Children's Place in Longview has been closed for the past few weeks despite retail stores reopening in Texas. The store now lists on its website that it will be open again beginning today (Tuesday) at 10 a.m. The Tyler location inside Broadway Square Mall remains closed.

“We expect that a good portion of them will open and liquidate and then will close, depending on the inventories that are left in the store,” Scarpa said in a company conference call transcribed by The Motley Fool.