The Children’s Place and Gymboree have begun going-out-of-business sales at all of their stores in the United States and Canada, and the retailer’s gift cards will be honored only through December 12, 2026. The cutoff comes from court-approved procedures in the company’s Chapter 11 case.
All sales are final during the liquidation, and the business itself is still up for sale, with bids due December 9. The stores remain open for now, but they are open to clear out inventory. The dates below decide what happens to gift cards, purchases and the workers behind the counters.
Going-out-of-business sales reach every store
A liquidation joint venture of GA Group, Tiger Group, SB360 Capital Partners, Gordon Brothers and Hilco Global announced the sales in a PR Newswire release dated November 12, 2026. The release says the sales began after approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey and cover all Children’s Place and Gymboree stores in the U.S. and Canada, plus an online inventory liquidation through both ecommerce sites.
A court filing places the start earlier. A declaration filed November 9 in the case, No. 26-22682, says liquidation sales were scheduled to begin November 6 under a consulting agreement dated November 2.
Stores stay open during regular hours unless otherwise posted. The release says discounts on apparel, footwear, accessories and seasonal merchandise are expected to deepen as the sale goes on, and that selection and availability vary by location. None of the sources read gives a count of stores.
What a layoff notice does not explain: The state layoff filings name planned separation dates in January and February 2027, and a gap in paychecks can bring collector calls and bank-account questions that the notices never address. The debt-validation steps and the protected-funds and dispute log in The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit cover how a collector’s claim gets checked and how account records get kept.
Gift cards work only through December 12
The release states that Children’s Place gift cards are honored through December 12, 2026, under court-approved procedures, and urges customers to redeem them early and to watch store signage, the ecommerce sites and court notices for updates. The company’s own announcements page does not address gift cards, so the release and the court procedures it cites are the controlling statements read.
Arithmetic only: December 12 falls 36 days after the November 6 start of the sales. Any card balance left after that date has no stated use. The sources read do not say what, if anything, happens to unredeemed balances. The U.S. Courts Chapter 11 overview does not mention customers or gift cards. It does say that debts owed before the filing generally are not paid during the case and that a creditor must file a proof of claim when a claim is unscheduled or scheduled as disputed, contingent or unliquidated. Whether gift card balances qualify as claims is a question for the case documents and the claims agent.
The release’s wording is limited to Children’s Place cards. It does not say how Gymboree cards are treated, so those holders have an open question to resolve with the claims agent.
All sales are final, with no return rules published
The release says all sales are final, subject to posted terms, that previous Children’s Place policies may be modified and that certain exclusions may apply. It does not describe return windows, exchanges or store credit. No official page read described how online orders placed before the filing will be handled, although the release confirms the online inventory liquidation is running on both brands’ ecommerce sites.
The practical risk is simple. A purchase made during the liquidation may not be returnable, and merchandise bought earlier may fall under changed terms. Receipts and order confirmations are the records that matter if a dispute arises, and the posted terms at the register or on the website are the rule that applies.
Dec. 9 bids and the court calendar
In a November 8 announcement (the company’s page), The Children’s Place said it filed Chapter 11 in New Jersey to sell substantially all of its assets under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Bids are due December 9, 2026, and the company expects the process to finish by the end of December. A Business Wire release of the same date repeats those dates and names Omni Agent Solutions as claims agent.
The Beers declaration lists the rest of the calendar: an auction, if needed, on December 11 at 10 a.m. Eastern; a sale objection deadline of December 14; and a sale hearing set for December 15 or another date the court picks. A buyer could change what happens to stores, brands and customer programs, which is why the gift card date is tied to the court-approved procedures and not to the sale result. The company has said only that certain store closures will be necessary and has not named which stores.
Layoff filings name 1,325 workers in two states
TheStreet reported 1,325 potential layoffs across two state WARN filings, and both state postings were read directly. Alabama’s WARN list shows Children’s Place Distribution in Fort Payne as a closure affecting 593 employees, with an initial report date of November 6, 2026 and a planned start date of January 5, 2027. New Jersey’s 2026 WARN archive lists 732 workers with an effective date of February 4, 2027, across 14 counties. Adding 593 and 732 gives 1,325.
The New Jersey posting gives the month but not the day of the notice and does not break out stores. A WARN notice shows planned separations, not final outcomes, and a sale could change them. Affected workers can direct questions about final pay and benefits to the claims agent at (866) 205-3149 or to their state labor department.
The mistake most likely to cost money or time is leaving a gift card unspent and assuming the date will move. The December 12 cutoff is the one in the release, and the court procedures behind it are what the release cites.
Bank accounts and collector calls after a layoff notice
The Alabama and New Jersey WARN filings give planned layoff dates for 1,325 Children’s Place workers, and the claims agent’s contact line covers the case itself. What the filings leave open is the household side of lost income: keeping bank records straight and answering a collector’s letter correctly if paychecks stop.
The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit is a 10-page kit that includes the debt-validation steps, the frozen-account response and a protected-funds and dispute log for keeping a record of what was disputed and when.
Read the debt-validation steps and the dispute log layout in The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit.
This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy against company announcements, the Chapter 11 court filing, state WARN postings and U.S. Courts guidance.
Cole Whitaker focuses on the fundamentals of money management, helping readers make smarter decisions around income, spending, saving, and long-term financial stability. His writing emphasizes clarity, discipline, and practical systems that work in real life. At The Daily Overview, Cole breaks down personal finance topics into straightforward guidance readers can apply immediately.
