The company will open a minimum of 10, and may open as many as 20 Crazy 8 units this year, beginning in August. They will be clustered in four markets: Northern and Southern California, Houston and the Northeast, and will have a footprint of approximately 2,500 sf, which is about 600 sf larger than the typical Gymboree unit.

Some will be near existing Gymboree stores, "because we want to quantify their degree of cannibalization from the start," he said. "The others will be where there are no Gymborees." The latter, he explained, allows the company to hedge its bets through the ability to turn the units into Gymborees if the concept does not go as well as planned. Yet, "we believe the (Crazy 8) store count could be bigger than Gymboree if things go well."

The name derives, McCauley said, "from the crazy lives our customers lead eight days a week. We want to offer clothing for their children from 8 a.m., when they wake up, until 8 p.m., when they go to bed." The launch will be accompanied by a website that offers eCommerce. "We're building a brand, and investing in advertising and PR," McCauley added.

The company began with Gymboree Play & Music early childhood development centers 30 years ago and expanded to Gymboree upscale retail apparel. It moved into the kids' luxury apparel market in 2002 with the launch of Janie and Jack and also later opened Gymboree Outlets, which carry reproductions of Gymboree's best-sellers from the previous year at a 30% discount.

As of this June 2, the company operated 583 Gymboree units in the US and Canada, 63 Gymboree Outlets, and 82 Janie and Jack shops in the US. It also operates online stores for both Gymboree and Janie and Jack and parent-and-child developmental play programs at 544 franchised and company-operated centers in the US and 30 additional countries.