This is so sad. Such a great Canadian company.
“We deeply regret the impact Please Mum’s current circumstances are having on our valued employees.
What happened to Please Mum?
Due to difficult financial circumstances, on July 7, 2011, Please Mum Partnership (consisting of and including Elia Fashions Ltd. and Bossa Nova Fashions Ltd.) (“Please Mum”) filed a Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the “BIA”). Deloitte & Touche Inc. has consented to be the Trustee under the Proposal.”
They are still selling online and in-store for the moment but all items are final sale, gift cards are not accepted anymore, VIP program cancelled, No VIP card will be honoured,
Heres a letter from the company.
well that explains why the one by me closed suddenly!
My 17 year old niece just got a job at one a few weeks ago…does this mean she won’t be able to get me good deals on baby clothes?!
…oh never mind. Our location is one of the 21 they are keeping, hooray!
corbinx, that means she will be unemployed!!!
oh good news for her and you i guess!!
“not keeping” but staying open for perhaps a bit.
oh thats just dandy for my $50 gift card that is now invalid. Thanks for the warning, please mum!! Will be calling them as soon as they answer the phone, which they are not currently doing.
Used to work for them in one of the Calgary stores. Loved my job, but they do not treat their staff well and they are underpaid. The crap that went on with pushing out a fantastic manager behind her back, etc made a lot of us quit. This cdn company moved their manufacturing to china which many customers didn’t know. The doors where closed this morning without any warning to it’s now unemployed staff! They can’t even afford to pay out vacation pay. Anyhow, I used to say such great things about please mum….now I just shake my head in disgust at how they have treated their devoted employees.
Maybe its because their “clearance”, and “sale” prices are the same as regular prices at other stores (Old Navy, Joe/Superstore, Carters/Osh Kosh). The quality is great, but its hard when you see something for $30 at Please Mom, which is comparable to $15 at Old Navy.
The one where I live is never busy, and the shelves are always stocked. Id love to see an Osh Kosh/Carters take their place at all retail locations closing! Love their prices, and styles 🙂
Wow !!! Shouldn’t the GC be protected by someone ? What if you bought a GC with your Credit Card ..can’t you do a chargeback or something with your CC company ?
Its too bad….I’m sure there will be more…things are not good in the economy!!! 🙂
maybe its because their clothes are out of date and expensive?
agreed anon
thats too bad for the employees.
gift cards should still honoured as the company has the cash already. I would write the BBB and make a complaint. At least it’s better than doing nothing.
I had a company disappear on me a few weeks back that I had already paid for their services, my credit card gave me back my money for unused vouchers. But I lost out on 4 vouchers that were not used entirely.
I wouldn’t shop there as I refuse to buy a club card from any franchise to get the DEAL on the price. One price for all….Explains why they never have any customers in the store when I go by
I found them to be overpriced but have pretty good quality items. I do agree that their sales are not that great. Their swimsuits are 50% and are now down to $12.50. That’s not a deal when you consider that at GAP I bought a swim trunk and rash guard for my little guy for $10 total! Now that’s a deal!
@ Shannon you didn’t have to buy anything for their VIP discount card. Just sign up and join.
Prices were extreme but sales were good. Too good for the last year.
I will miss the little boy Dino line. I think it would’ve came out soonish.
Ummn Shannon, their vip card was a free loyalty card….
Their prices were definably high compared to similar stores but I stopped going in there because I found the staff wouldn’t give you any space. It’s one thing to greet customers and ask how they are and then to tell them about the sale but I couldn’t stand when they would ask how old the child was I was shopping for and then proceed to pick out things for me. Maybe it was just my location but that’s why I stopped going in. But it will be odd not seeing them in malls anymore.
I would be extremely upset if they didn’t honor a Giftcard. That was money they received and in good faith they should honor it. They are not losing money on these, and as far as I am concerned it is thief if they do not honor them. Shame on them. I never shopped there as I hate the whole name brand for kids thing. But it is sad to see yet another Canadian company run into the ground.
I will definitely miss their wonderfully-line winter jackets and versatile snowpants! As a Cdn company, they truly understood what was necessary to keep our kids warm in this climate.
Their clothes are outdated, and expensive!!!
Gift cards are considered as unsecured debts by bankruptcy courts, and as such become valueless when a company files for bankruptcy.
Google the TABI bankruptcy to see how mad people got about it!
I really wanted to like PleaseMum, but the clothes tended to be too bright, especially for the boys, and I never seemed to find anything really cute. Outfits didn’t always seem too coordinated, and sale prices always tended to amount to about the same thing no matter what the “deal” being offered.I looked a few times for gifts for my nieces, but the fabric on the girls’ clothing seemed thin, and the clothes seemed like versions of adult styles that were so outdated that they were trying to sell them off in a bargain shop. They needed to introduce some timeless and more sophisticated styles.
And yes, I agree that the salesclerks were expected to be too helpful.
I wonder if the staff will get paid- doubt it. I know for a fact that when Toys And Wheels went bankrupt, they left a lot of employees high and dry with no pay (current/what was supposed to be on the next cheque and holiday pay).
And the gift cards should be honoured since people paid good money for it. And as someone else mentioned, if it was purchased with a credit card, you can get your money back.
I won’t miss them at all.Like others have already said to high prices paired with out of date, tacky, clothing did not make me want to shop there. It is a shame for all the employees who will be out of work.
I never find anything really cute with them. Their clothes are outdated and very expensive.
I’m surprised with so many of the comments that thought the clothes were outdated. I didn’t think they were that bad and very similar to Gymboree, Joe or Old Navy. I did find them to be Extremely expensive unless you caught an awesome sale which was far and few between.
Tacky is the word….
I had $100 in gift cards that took me over a year to use up because I could never find anything that I’d want to dress my kids in. Their reusable tote bags were cute though…
I really liked their baby boy and toddler items, but when it came to regular boy sizes there really wasn’t much I loved. I did however get their snowpants this year when they went on for $19.99 and they were some of the best snowpants I’ve ever bought.
I worked for Please Mum for a year a couple of years ago, and let me tell you it was NOT a good experience. This company treated their employees like CRAP!!! We would be forced to work 12+ hour shifts with NO BREAKS, and NOT get paid overtime! The “fabulous employee discount” was 50% off regular price!! No different than the price customers paid as there was usually a sale going on that was comparable to that. Honestly me and a few fellow employees saw this coming a couple of years ago, and quite frankly the way Kathryn Adrian has run this company and treated her employees (Im talking District Managers/Head Office employees as well) has gotten what she deserves.
I have $150 in gift cards and having them rendered valueless makes me feel ill. I will get my mom (gift card giver) to check with her credit card company to see if they can do anything. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!
Sherri –if the gift cards were purchased within the last six months you have a good chance –it is called ‘denial of service’ after payment. Have your mom get her receipts for card purchase ready–do not mention that they went bankrupt. Instead, say they will not honour the cards–and you have contacted the company head office and they will not hounour the cards—hence” ‘denial of service” I had to do this once and it took a couple of hours on the telephone but it was worth the refund!
Their boys clothing was awful! Gawdy prints splashed all over everything, ugly colours and prints…..this bankruptcy comes as no surprise to me!
Unfortunately when a company seeks bankruptcy protection, the employees are the last (if ever) to get paid and even that can take years. It will depend on the deal they make with the creditors and the courts. The secured creditors will be first in line to receive monies (if any) and sometimes only $0.60 on the dollar. I’m sorry they went under, but I agree with the comments above – the clothes were horrible (ugly). I think once I found a cute top and it was way too expensive. I’m surprised they lasted this long.
Gift cards no longer accepted? I know bankruptcy eliminates debt but i also know there was a Canadian law passed to recognize gift cards as actual cash that can’t expire or be called invalid. Sounds like gift card holders may have some hope in fighting.
Sorry folks, I have a 17 year old daughter now and their CARD was one that you had to purchase a membership for. Maybe now it was a free Loyalty card but sorry to say that I never purchased anything for my son who is now 9 as I do not frequest stores who make you purchase a membership to get the deal. Glad to know that they changed this practice…to little to late for me.
I had $150 gift card – what a WASTE!!!!
i have a $100 gift card….so unfair.
That is ridiculous Bankruptcy protection should also protect those who have gift cards with them, there should be a grace period. That is just hurting the consumer.
I think Lily has a good point someone needs to look into this further
I am kind of shocked. I agree with others, their boys clothes weren’t the nicest but I will most definitely miss buying my son his next snowsuit there. The one I got him last year from PM was awesome.
the letter on their website says nothing about no longer accepting the gift cards and that they are keeping some locations opened and the website open. Are we sure they will no longer accept the gift cards?
should reword that, the website says they are keeping the website and some stores open and nothing about no longer accepting gift cards. Are we sure they will no longer accept the gift cards?
I think Please Mum’s major competitior Children’s Place put the last nail in their cofin. As with most comments their clothes were really overpriced and you would think with them making them in China for the last while it would reduce their prices. I know that since the birth of my first child over 2 years ago I have only every shopped at Children’s Place … mainly due to the insanly good sale prices and the selection there is much better as well. After all who can say know to jeans for 3.99 and shirts for .99.
QuinnsMom!I’m Quinsmom!lol
Has anyone phoned customer service? Or any of their stores that are remaining open? I have a $50 gc… this makes me sick that I will lose that money!!
Please Mum reminds me of the Titanic. Ship sinks & all employee’s on board suffers but the executives who steered the ship gets a life raft. My heart goes to all who sank.
That’s very sad. Please Mum was an all-Canadian company as far as I know.
AWFUL BRAND. Surprised it stuck around for this long. overpriced, 80’s design and has a reputation of treating employees unfairly. Will be known as the 80’s retailer. Be sold and be gone.
I called the Kitchener store yesterday, and they did indeed confirm that they are no longer accepting gift cards 🙁
Not surprised. I feel very badly for SOME of the employees. Was a long time employee and lost my job over 2 years ago due to restructuring back then. I guess I lucked out because I did receive a severence package. I agree with alot of the comments. The clothes were getting cheaper looking all the time and they were expensive,and we were suppose to follow the customer around and ask as many questions as possible and just start picking out clothes for them. As far as the gc go, this is very unfortunate. What a waste.
For those who have gift cards, what about redeeming them at their online store? There’s no reason they shouldn’t honour them.
Their website only says the company is “restructuring” and only keeping stores nationwide open. They should still honour the gift cards.
It says on their site no gift cards. Restructuring is a nice way for them to put it. It even states employees aren’t getting any owed holiday pay either. I’ve had that happen to me before, it took 2 years and I finally got a cheque from the government for the amount.
Hi All,
I am one of garment suppliers for PLSMUM in China before. we already seperated many years ago. I sure the quality which we produced for them alway properly at the date we worked for them. we did control well from fabrics to trims to safe for kids to wear, our trims meet CPSIA Requested even PLEASEMUM AND CANAD no requested.
but franktly I can not understand why Old Navy can sell price low $15/pcs only even we have both fabrics and garment factory by ouself, the facts that the actual cost the mens shirts which we produced for Macy’s and Dillars almost more than $15/pc fob shanghai.
as the materiarls cost for every brand is similar. I feel the half reason why plsmum can not down price as others due to they did not suck the blood of Bangalis or Chinese prisoners as other.pls noted that you get cheap price base from leave them work and live in very poor situation.so hope pls understand each others. don;t too much complaints…
but I agree PLEASEMUM styles really out of date and two simple.
franktly I feel the main reason why PLEASEMUM face bankruptcy is they lost their way while they try down price to fight with other big and powerful competitors.it is funny to beat price with them. it is the reason we had to said bye bye to them since Sep 2009.for we must work with buyers who care safety than cost.the other main reason is cheap price products time is getting over soon.for the facts we can sell children products with price higher than $15 in China now. why we need to keep supply goods without cover cost and payment lated than 60days after shipment?
@olivercat – Thanks for the advice! I took you up on it and the credit card company was called. They are “filing a complaint” – so not sure yet what the result of that will be.
COME ON FOLKS, PLEASE MUM will be sold shortly and once done nothing will remain. Please Mum has no future. New buyer won’t keep anything or anyone from this company.
HI! DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THEY SHUT DOWN THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE.. I SWEAR IT WAS ON MY LIST BUT NOW I CAN’T EVEN FIND IT ANYWHERE ON F/B WHEN I DO A SEARCH.
THANKS!
Pretty sure they shut down the facebook page a well. It’s history as well as the store.
I was an employee of Please Mum but I quit three weeks before they announce bankcrpcy. According to the Bc Employment Stand, I was supposed to get my vacation pay with my last pay cheque, but I didn’t. I went to head office and asked for my vacation pay. Sophia, a crazy woman who is incharge of fiancial department yelling at me and said she can’t correct the mistake she made and there is no penny for me. She said that’s my bad luck. I was shocked. Can you imagin that Please Mum would hire this kind of “CRAP”, no manner at all as a key person at fiancial department. No wonder they went to bankcrpcy……
PleaseMum has no choice of whether to accept the gift cards or not. It is completely out of their hands. The Trustee in Bankruptcy (Deloitte & Touche) is required by law to order the staff of the remaining stores to not honour the gift cards. The ONLY people you could complain to is your FEDERAL Member of Parliament to change the bankruptcy laws to include gift card holder protection in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. PleaseMum’s hands are tied in this. The federal laws do not let them honour gift cards.
I myself am holding a worthless $50 gift card from them.
I started buying from Please Mum when my now 16 year-old was a baby. Back then, the clothing was all made in Canada. I agree that their regular prices have always been high, but they’ve always had great sales.
I bought from the same woman for 16 years for all three of my children. They used to have fabulous basics, and many of the items were passed from my eldest daughter to her little sister still looking new.
I went in to buy a Canada Day t-shirt in July and almost fell over when I realized that it wasn’t even cotton. I told them that it was bad enough that they outsourced the manufacturing of their clothing, but now they don’t even pretend to have good quality.
I’m a very frugal shopper myself, but I have a problem dealing with some firms who sell items at ridiculously low prices because I know it means that someone was taken advantage of. Really, if I can’t even make it myself for that price, and they need to buy fabric, have it made and shipped, advertise, pay rent, pay staff, etc…Someone has been exploited. (See ‘The Story of Stuff’).
Getting a great deal at the end of the season is one thing (LOVE that), but I question how a Children’s Place can sell at the prices they do. I shop there sometimes, but it always makes me feel guilty.
The PM website is still up, but I won’t buy from them knowing how they’ve treated their staff.
Contrary to most here, I actually loved shopping at please mum, I found the quality so much better than Children’s Place and pretty much all other stores, and was worth the extra price, I only bought when the items were on sale though; I will definitely miss them. Hope things turn around and employees are at least taken care of as much as possible.
It’s now Feb 9 2012 and Please Mum is still open, selling merchandise and not accepting gift cards. My daughter got $100 in GC from a shower for a daughter born at the end of July 2011. And the first we heard about the bankruptcy was today when she tried to use her GC. What is the Government doing to protect the consumer? Why are stores allowed to market Gift Cards as “as good as cash” when clearly they are not!
SOOOOOoooooo finally a year later I find out I’ll be able to use the gc i’ve been holding on to. I was just at the PleaseMum in Edmonton and she said they’re finally changing over to the company that bought them over on August 1st. So anyone who still has the gcs from them, will be able to use them with the new company. The only stipulation is you have to purchase double the amount of the card. Also, valid only between Aug 1-14th. This is the Londonderry location here in Edmonton so hopefully it’ll be across the country.
I’m quite pissed to put it lightly. Still got emails for online shopping so went ahead and ordered sept 12/13. Credit card was charged and everything. Waited and waited and still nothing. Tried to call and no answer. I hope I get my money back!!!