As anyone who has or had young children knows, they grow out of clothing at sometimes astonishing rates. As such, the demand for children's clothing and accessories has not slowed during the lockdowns.
Two of the largest retailers of children's clothing in the US are Children's Place ($PLCE) and Carter's, Inc ($CRI).
Syracuse, NJ-headquartered The Children's Place has closed physical stores since March 18 and will continue to keep stores closed indefinitely. It has maintained online sales and distribution, which is reportedly accelerating in growth. Children's Place acquired Gymboree in 2019 and relaunched it both online and in select locations in February 2020, utilizing the "store-within-a-store" model.
Founded in 1865 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Carter's, Inc. closed storefronts as of March 19 until further notice. Online distribution continues and is being expanded, however.
Both companies withdrew financial guidance for the first financial quarter of 2020, are drawing heavily on revolving lines of credit, and are seeking options to limit costs.
Children's Place, however, is still hiring. Not only is it still hiring, its Job Postings are strong. On August 2, 2019, it had 2,350 openings. As of April 25, 2020, there are 2,380 openings. We reached out to Children's Place corporate for comment and will update if and when they get back to us. But we did speak to a store manager who expressed eagerness for applicants.
Carter's Inc. presently has no job listings. While Carter's has also seen a decrease in stock values, it is less of a turbulent plunge than Children's Place. Over the past three months, Carter's has seen its value go down by -33.47%.
While both companies have seen less social media activity, Carter's has maintained a better hold on the Facebook Talking About metric over the past three months. Carter's has a -26.82% Relative Change while Children's Place has experienced a -78.75% Relative Change.
It's tough to say who is the head of the class. Children's Place looks like it's got potential despite the pandemic. Meanwhile, data suggests that Carter's is holding value, the public eye, and has a better internal opinion of corporate guidance.
We will be watching to see if Children's Place continues to suffer from growing pains or if Carter's is the place for children's clothes post-COVID-19.
Meanwhile, many general retailers, such as Nordstrom, Macy's, and Gap have significantly cut job postings during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.