Learning Care Group history

The child-care firm was acquired by Michigan-base d baby food manufacturer Gerber Products Company in 1973, and the nam e was changed to Gerber Children's Centers, Inc.

Gerber was a pioneer in the development of employer-sponsored child-c are services, opening its first corporate child-care center in 1981 a t the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan.

The Gerbe r Children's Centers business was considered extraneous as well, and in 1990 Gerber Products announced the sale of its child-care subsidia ry to KD Acquisition Corporation, a private investment firm based in New York.

1991: Gerber Children's Centers is renamed Childtime Children' s Centers.

Childtime moved its headquarters again in 1992, to Farmington Hills, Michigan, and by the end of that year business was on the upswing--of the 19 centers that had been running at half capacity at the beginni ng of the decade, 16 had recovered and become profitable.

In 1993 the company opened two new at-work facilities, one at St . Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, and one at the Northern Ill inois Medical Center in McHenry.

To realize its goal of adding about 20 new centers a year, Childtime continued to expand through strategic acquisitions as well, and in 1994 the company bought Little Learners, a child-care p rovider in Syracuse, New York.

1996: The company goes public and begins trading on the NASDAQ .

In 1997 the comp any made its entry into the state of Washington when it acquired nine centers from Abundant Life Childcare Centers in Seattle.

Net income also increased, from $4.35 million in 1998 to $5.1 million.

During fiscal 2002, Childtime posted a net loss of approximately $4 million.

That number climbed to $18 million in 2003.

In August 2004, Childtime changed its name to Learning Care Group, Inc.

"Learning Care Group Franchise Convention Celebrates Success, Growth Opportunities," Market Wire, April 22, 2005.

In 2014, it was acquired by private equity firm American Securities.