Gap Inc. is a U.S.-based multinational fashion retailer. The company was founded in 1969 in California and has expanded to some 3,000 stores worldwide. The company trades under various names as well as Gap, these include Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Intermix, H&M, and Athleta.
Due to a decline in fortunes, the seller of “dad trousers” and a vast range of women’s clothing is to close 175 stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as a selected number of European outlets. Cuts are also being made to the U.S. office.
The economic woes include a 15 percent decline in like-for-like sales; this compares with a 3 percent rise seen for the same period last year. Nonetheless, as Alabama.com reports, the group made $16.4 billion in net sales last fiscal year.
As to the reasons the critique from the New York Times is damning: “After dominating khaki and denim culture through the 1990s, Gap has stumbled in recent years, hurt by management blunders, a revolving door of executives and, by its own executives’ admission, uninspiring fashion.”
Talking with BBC News, company Chief executive Art Peck stated: “Returning Gap brand to growth has been the top priority since my appointment four months ago. Customers are rapidly changing how they shop today, and these moves will help get Gap back to where we know it deserves to be in the eyes of consumers.”
The store is not without other issues. Gap are frequently cited for labor issues, especially in relation to overseas factories. For instance, Ethisphere Magazine selected Gap as one of 100 “World’s Most Ethical Companies” in 2007. In 2013, a factory making Gap clothes in Bangladesh in an eight-story commercial building named Rana Plaza, collapsed and over 1,000 people died.
