Disney Store Operator Files Bankruptcy

Secaucus, N.J. The Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. said late Wednesday that the company's subsidiary that operates the Disney Store chain has filed for bankruptcy protection as part of its previously announced plan to exit the Disney Store business and focus on its core brand.

The Chapter 11 filing by the subsidiary, Hoop Holdings LLC, does not apply to the parent company.

The Children's Place said last week that it planned to let Walt Disney Co. take back control of about two-thirds of the 335 stores in the Disney Store chain. About 115 remaining stores were expected to close.

Disney handed ownership of the chain to Children's Place in November 2004 with an agreement that Children's Place would pay royalties after two years.

In a written statement Wednesday, Chuck Crovitz, interim CEO of The Children's Place, said the company concluded that "the cost of running the Disney Store was no longer an acceptable use of (the) company's resources" and that the filing would "enable the company to transition away from the Disney Store business in an orderly and expeditious manner."

The Disney Stores recorded an operating loss of $92.1 million for the three months that ended Feb. 2 and $107.3 million for the fiscal year.

Gary Foster, a spokesman for Disney Consumer Products, said Wednesday that the filing was "not unexpected."

"From a Disney perspective, the negotiations are still ongoing," he added.

The Children's Place, a specialty retailer of children's merchandise, operates more than 900 Children's Place stores.