Children’s Place sales down 38% in Q1; reopening stores in 10 states

The Children’s Place is beginning to reopen its stores as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on its revenue.

The nation’s largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer said its sales fell 38% to $254 million in the quarter ended May 2. To help fulfill surging online demand, Children’s Place enabled its ship-from-store capabilities in approximately 85% of its U.S. stores in late April, which more than doubled its daily shipping capacity. The retailer said its seond quarter digital demand is up more than 400% through May 16.

The Children’s Place will reopen its stores in phases as state and local guidelines and conditions permit, starting on Tuesday, May 19. The first phase takes in 10 states: 

Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah. Currently, more than 40%  of the chain’s stores are in states and counties that have not yet been authorized to reopen to the public. (As of February 1,  the company operated 924 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.)

The Children’s Places is implementing a number of in-store measures to protect the health and safety of customers and employees, including reduced store hours, partitions at checkout, social distancing signage and temporary closures of restrooms, fitting rooms and water fountains. It also is implementing rigorous cleaning routines and providing hand sanitizer stations in every store.

As of May 2, the company has $72 million in cash and equivalents, with no long-term debt, and $235 million outstanding on its $360 million revolving credit facility.