SYDNEY, N.S. — The Cape Breton outlet of North America’s largest children’s specialty apparel chain will close permanently when The Children’s Place at Mayflower Crossings on Grand Lake Road turns out the lights at the end of the business day on Jan. 25.
The closing of the Sydney store is part of a continent-wide restructuring for the parent company that will see 300 brick and mortar locations close over the next two years including 100 in the next 12 months.
No one from the parent company could be immediately reached for comment but the company issues have been updated through reports to investors.
“We are approaching the fourth quarter with heightened caution and expect both sales and profitability to be under pressure due to the numerous headwinds created by the pandemic,” Jane Elfers, company president and CEO, wrote in a November report.
Specifically, reduced demand for dress-up product, significantly reduced store traffic, spikes in COVID-19 cases resulting in additional temporary store closures, social distancing requirements, and reduced mall operating hours were noted.
Elfers also wrote that revenue during the peak back-to-school period was significantly impacted by the move to remote and hybrid learning models.
Capacity constraints across the domestic transportation network resulting from the “unprecedented level of expected online demand” and the related freight surcharges imposed by major carriers will put additional pressure on sales and margins during the company’s fourth quarter were also noted.
“While we continue to manage through these short-term headwinds during this extraordinary time, our focus remains on successfully scaling our digital transformation investments and accelerating store closures to position the company for accelerated operating margin expansion in a post-COVID environment.”
The Children’s Place currently has five locations across Atlantic Canada but the Sydney store is the only one that is scheduled to cease its operations.
Other locations are in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and St. John’s, N.L., and in Nova Scotia at the Micmac Mall and the Halifax Shopping Centre.
Greg McNeil is a business reporter at the Cape Breton Post.
