SECAUCUS, N.J., June 25, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Children's Place Retail Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq:PLCE), the largest pure-play children's specialty apparel retailer in North America, today announced that it has signed a ten-year franchise agreement with Apparel Group to open stores in the Arab Gulf States of United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The first stores are scheduled to open in the UAE in September 2012 in Dubai and Sharjah.

Jane Elfers, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very excited to continue our expansion beyond North America with a number of stores opening in the UAE this year. The Middle East retail landscape is very well developed and has high potential for our brand. We look forward to working with Apparel Group, which has a proven track record of launching and operating international brands."

Commenting on The Children's Place launch, Mr. Nilesh Ved, Chairman of Apparel Group, stated, "We are eager to launch our partnership with The Children's Place. There is a void in the Gulf States for children's product that combines fashion, quality and value, and we are confident that The Children's Place is the perfect brand to fill that void."

About The Children's Place Retail Stores, Inc.

The Children's Place is the largest pure-play children's specialty apparel retailer in North America. The Company designs, contracts to manufacture and sells fashionable, high-quality merchandise at value prices, primarily under the proprietary "The Children's Place" brand name. As of April 28, 2012, the Company operated 1,062 stores and an online store at www.childrensplace.com.

About Apparel Group

Apparel Group is a global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Today, Apparel Group caters to thousands of shoppers through its more than 655 stores, employing 5,500 multicultural staff covering four continents. In addition to their operations in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, they have a presence in India, Poland, Singapore, Jordan, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding future circumstances, including statements relating to the Company's positioning, and forecasts regarding store openings. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially. Some of these risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" section of its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012. Included among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially are the risk that the Company will be unsuccessful in gauging fashion trends and changing consumer preferences, the risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of the Company's business and its dependence on consumer spending patterns, which may be affected by the continued weakness in the economy or by other factors such as increases in the cost of gasoline and food, the risk that the cost of raw materials or energy prices will increase beyond current expectations or that the Company is unable to offset cost increases through value engineering or price increases, and the uncertainty of weather patterns. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The inclusion of any statement in this release does not constitute an admission by the Company or any other person that the events or circumstances described in such statement are material.

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