Retailer Gymboree has announced the plans of its bankruptcy and restructuring, and the news is not favorable for shoppers in the Champaign-Urbana area, especially with back-to-school shopping in the near future for many families.
The venerable children’s retailer – known for quality clothing at reasonable prices – went public with its bankruptcy in June. This week, they announced the results.
Both the Gymboree at Champaign’s Market Place Shopping Center and the Gymboree outlet located in Tuscola will close, the company announced on its website. The company will close approximately 350 stores across the country.
A website launched as part of the restructuring gives the details, including the following message:
“As part of our court-supervised restructuring process, the Gymboree Corporation is taking necessary steps to strengthen our Company as a whole by closing certain Gymboree and Crazy 8 brand stores.
We encourage customers to visit www.gymboree.com and www.crazy8.com and use the store locator to find their next nearest store where they can continue to shop with us.
We appreciate your ongoing business and look forward to continuing to meet your children’s clothing needs for the summer, the important back-to-school season and beyond.”
Springfield and Peoria’s Northwoods stores are also closing, leaving no store closer to Champaign-Urbana than the Chicago and Indianapolis metro areas.
Liquidation sales will start July 18, according to the corporate info released on Tuesday.
“We do not have any information at this time about when various discounts will be rolled out to customers, but we do expect that there will be emails alerting you to potential savings,” the website reads.
The Gymboree closing is the latest setback for Champaign’s Market Place Shopping Center, which recently lost women’s retailer Banana Republic after an almost 10-year run. Around the new year, Eddie Bauer and The Limited closed.
The Gymboree Outlet opened in Tuscola during spring of 2010 (we wrote about it!). The Market Place Shopping Center location has been there for more than 10 years.
In the past year, the Champaign-Urbana area has seen the following national retailers close:
HH Gregg
Eddie Bauer
The Limited
Banana Republic
Gander Mountain
rue21
Family Christian