Gymboree Group is selling the rights to its Gymboree and Crazy 8 brand to The Children’s Place for $76 million. The company is also selling its high-end children’s fashion line Janie and Jack to Gap for $35 million. The sales, which were disclosed in documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, must still be approved by the court.
“We are excited about the potential opportunity to acquire Janie and Jack – a leader in children’s specialty retail,” Gap told USA TODAY in a statement. “We believe this transaction will provide Gap Inc. with the opportunity to expand our customer base in a desirable category with a loyal brand following.”
Under the deal with Gymboree, Gap will get Janie and Jack’s online business and leases to its stores, as well as other assets including customer data, according to the court document.
Gymboree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.
Ayako Homma, an analyst who tracks the children’s clothing market at Euromonitor International, said many parents are choosing to have children later in life, when they have more disposable income. The market for children’s clothing grew more than 4% last year.
The news comes a week after Gap said it was spinning off Old Navy as a standalone publicly traded company. Gap, citing the outperformance of Old Navy relative to its sister companies Gap and Banana Republic, said it was pursuing a strategy to separate Old Navy. It said it was also closing about 230 Gap stores worldwide over the next two years, or about 50% of its locations.
This is the second bankruptcy for Gymboree, which also filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2017.
The Children’s Place assumed a contract it had with Zeavion Holding under its deal. Zeavion acquired Gymboree’s Play & Music business in 2016.