Children's Place Unveils Store Plans for South East Asia

One of the leading children's apparel retailers, The Children's Place, Inc. PLCE recently unveiled its store expansion plan for South East Asia, wherein it has entered into a development agreement with Gill Capital. The company first plans to open 25 locations in Indonesia and then may extend its wings gradually in Singapore, Thailand and The Philippines.

As of Apr 29, 2017, Children's Place operated 1,033 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. In fact, the company had shut down seven stores and introduced one store in the last quarter. Further, its international franchise partners opened six points of distribution, thus making a total of 156 international points of distribution at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

Looking forward, Children's Place is likely to establish more than 300 points of distribution by 2020 end. The company is expected to achieve this growth via the help of its existing partners coupled with striding footprint in new geographic regions. In addition, management focuses on new product strategies, along with the growth of the recently launched business in China.

We believe this agreement with Gill Capital is likely to enhance the company's offerings with great fashion and quality, alongside maximizing its customers' value.

Children's Place, which currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) has outperformed both the Zacks categorized Retail – Apparel/Shoe industry and the broader sector in the last year. The stock surged 40.6% against the industry's decline of 15.8%. Meanwhile, the Zacks categorized Retail-Wholesale sector gained 15.7%. Furthermore, the stock boasts a VGM Score of ‘A', with a long-term earnings growth rate of 8%.