With about 95 per cent of stores still closed due to the pandemic, the Children's Place plans to close 300 of its stores in malls by the start of 2022. The retailer's mall-based portfolio will represent less than 25 per cent of its total revenue, CEO Jane Elfers said.

The brand will close 100 stores by the end of the second quarter of the total 200 closures this year, and another 100 set to close in 2021. About half of the first set of closures will take place in the next month and a half, with most of them expected to open briefly for liquidation sales.

The company reported a 38 per cent decline in its first quarter net sales. The retailer swung to a $114.8 million loss from $4.5 million in net income a year ago, with a gross loss of $19.7 million from gross profit of $152 million last year. That was a 990-basis point downswing to 26.8 per cent of net sales, primarily due to the higher costs of e-commerce fulfillment, along with the fixed expenses of closed stores.