The Children's Place is working on reviving brick-and-mortar channel

The Children's Place is on a revival mode. Following a massive store closure program starting during the pandemic in 2020, the chain nearly halved its store count from 924 locations in 2020 to 495 in 2024.

Now, The Children's Place Executive Chairman Turki S. AlRajhi, CEO of the retailer’s majority shareholder, MITHAQ HOLDING COMPANY, is voicing his regrets about how the brick-and-mortar channel of the retail chain has been neglected, and the company has vowed to turn it around.

"I believe that the appearance and poor condition of TCP’s stores detract from the shopping experience of store customers and convey a single, unfortunate reality: our stores have become an orphan channel," he said in an earnings report. To help with the turnaround, Mitqah will provide a $90 million loan to The Children’s Place .

Improved landlord relationships and opening new stores is part of the renewed effort to improve the physical store presence. The Children's Place hired Philip Ende last November to head up real estate and stabilize its fleet of stores. It has also been making timely rent payments to landlords since November to renegotiate soon-to-expire leases.

The chain plans to close unprofitable locations and open a “spree” of new stores, according to a recent shareholder letter. The Children's Place wants to open 15 new Children’s Place and Gymboree stores by January 2026, the end of the current fiscal year. The first side-by-side combo store will open later this year at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.

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