Disney World

The operator of the Disney Store chain on Thursday said that the return of over 200 stores to Walt Disney Co. could be completed by May if its restructuring plan is accepted by a bankruptcy judge.The remaining 100-plus Disney Stores in North America would be closed, said Chuck Crovitz, interim chief executive officer of The Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc.His comments came Thursday in a teleconference with analysts less than a day after the Children’s Place subsidiary that operates the Disney Stores filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.The subsidiary, Hoop Holdings LLC, runs 322 Disney Stores. Secaucus-based Children’s Place announced March 20 that it was negotiating to have Disney regain control of two-thirds of those stores. That announcement did not mention that bankruptcy would be used.Neither Children’s Place nor its other subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, the company said.Disney, of Burbank, Calif., said the bankruptcy filing was expected and that talks are continuing.”We are very close to where we need to be, but we are not at 100 percent,” Crovitz said Thursday. “There are some issues, but we don’t see them as being insurmountable.”He said the transfer can be completed following the court proceedings, which he hoped would conclude by April 30.”There certainly are precedents for the action contemplated here,” he said.The cost of the Disney Store transfer and shutdown is still estimated at $50 million to $100 million, Crovitz said.He reiterated that Children’s Place was leaving the Disney Store business because needed investments were not expected to deliver economic returns. It took control of the stores in 2004. In announcing its exit plan March 20, Children’s Place said the Disney Stores recorded an operating loss of $92.1 million for the quarter that ended Feb. 2, and $107.3 million for the year. Overall, for the three months ending Feb. 2, Children’s Place reported a loss of $58.5 million, or $2.01 a share, from a profit of $44.7 million, or $1.48, in the prior-year quarter.No hearings were immediately scheduled by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon. Crovitz said the bankruptcy petition was filed at 8 p.m. Wednesday.A similar filing is expected in Toronto by Children’s Place’s Canadian subsidiary, the company said.The Delaware petition puts Hoop’s assets at less than $50,000, and puts liabilities in the same range.Three of the largest unsecured creditors are Disney entities, but the amounts are stated as “unknown.”Shares in Children’s Place fell more than 2 percent, or 55 cents, to $24.95, while Disney shares fell 37 cents to $31.39 in morning trading Thursday.

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