Gap, well, hmm. that place will have like, one item a year that I like. pass!

You know what would really turn things around for the Gap? If they stopped selling Gap clothes.

Gap sucks.

"The company will eliminate Baby Gap and Gap Kids stores and incorporate them into their adult stores"

Without looking at their quarterly reports, it seems like kids and baby aparrel should be healthier than the adult market, considering that kids' clothing is often bought as gifts, the product life is shorter, and there are fewer competitors.

Read in today's local paper that Goody's is shuttering a bunch of stores as well.

Current trend in retailing.

Too little too late. I don't think Gap can survive. Maybe if their clothes weren't paper-thin and didn't destroy themselves when washed only 2-3 times. At least when I go to Old Navy, I know I'm paying cheap prices for cheap clothes. Gap is just an expensive Old Navy at this point.

@Franklin Comes Alive!: FWIW, Gap used to have better quality clothes. I have 5+ year old Gap shirts in better shape than some I bought there within the past year.

Jin, you're alive!

Well if their clothes didn't suck maybe they'd sell. I bought 2 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of boxers there and all but one of the pairs of boxers ripped out within a month. For being $30-$40 pants, I wasnt impressed.

yeah, Gap's appeal to me ended when i graduated college. Their styles are too cookie cutter and they have been basically selling the same shit over and over again just different year.

The Gap sucks!

@Franklin Comes Alive!:
Agreed about your second post. I have boxer shorts -boxer shorts- that were bought for me there sometime in the mid 1990's that have only gotten better with age. I turned my back on them when I took my Gap jeans out of the wash to find "bleach spots" that nothing else in a load of blues and blacks had on them.

Yep- the Gap seems to be lost. They're too expensive to be a "disposable" clothing store like H&M or O-N, but don't have the quality or size consistency of comparable brands. They're also somewhere between trendy and basics and that's actually a negative (who wants "sort-of" trendy?).

FWIW, I like their Banana Republic stuff. The quality is good (and consistent) and it fits well.

My mom runs a GapBody. They recently had a HUGE restructring of management in their district. We've been wondering when an announcement like this was going to come.

I worked at my neighborhood Gap for two years in college. Disaster. It's still the best place to get basic pants and jeans, but NOTHING else. Even their sundresses for this summer somehow manage to be heinous, unflattering, boring, schoolmarmish, and slutty -- all at the same time.

Is that Jin from Lost? I hope he's not dead.

@ARP: Yeah, it seems like they stuck themselves in a no man's land, with the flagship brand sandwiched between Old Navy and Banana Republic, which, like them or not, are very effective at serving their targets. I don't think it helps that Old Navy's eschewing the "look how cheap we are!" approach and skewing younger/stylisher.

So wait. They're not going to try improving their clothing selection instead?

Oh no!! I hope they don't close any of the 3 Gaps at the mall near me!

Gap should just join forces with Macy's and go down together in flames. Gapy's!

Both companies were run to the ground by arrogant CEOs and clueless upper management.

The gap by me has great sales. I bought a pair of jeans for 20 bucks and a nice dress shirt for 10 bucks. They're cheap clothes and when they're on sale they're reasonably priced. Still look better than the crap at walmart.

I never buy from the gap, old navy though I do buy from frequently and they are all the same company.

@octoSink: Cant be, Jin blew up. And with todays market, you cant be spending money on dummies. you really have to blow the actors up.

We have a Gap, Gap Kids and Gap Baby that practically take up an entire side of a wing in our nearby mall. The last time I was at the mall on a busy Friday afternoon all three Gap stores were totally empty of people.

They did have a plum skirt in the window I thought was kind of interesting until I realized that the hippie record store across town probably had one just like it for half the price and I look awful in hippie clothes.

@S3CT: That's part of their problem. I know a lot of people like yourself (like me). We buy from Gap, but NEVER pay full price. I usually wait for pants/jeans to drop below $20 and shirts to drop below $15. They seem to always be putting their stuff on sale. Of course, that doesn't help their margins at all.

You'd think at some point they'd study the price point where they maximize sales and re-evaluate their price structure, especially when compared to O-N and B-R.

I used to love the Gap. But about three years ago they it seemed like they downgraded both quality and style while at the same time raising prices. Their "sale" racks used to yield tremendous values, but last week I saw several pairs of $60 Khakis on the clearance rack for $45. That's not clearance, not by a long shot.

I now do most of my clothes shopping when there are sales at Macy's/Lord and Taylor or just hit designer outlet stores and Marshall's. The result is higher quality, better styles and lower prices.

@S3CT: Which leads me to my question - does anyone buy anything at the Gap at full price? That's really a problem for the brand, isn't it? Everything is unreasonably priced, and you know everything will go on sale sooner than later.

@ARP: I should hit refresh before posting.

There's a few reasons I don't shop at the gap anymore. One, for as long as I've gone there they always sell the same clothes. If I walk into my local Gap today and then go back in time and walk into it 10 years ago, everythings going to be relatively the same. They don't seem to change or grow or evolve. Its always the exact same stuff, which is fine until you get tired of wearing it. Second, why should I pay double for the exact same stuff I can get at Old Navy? Gap is way overpriced. Who do they think they are, Abercrombie & Fitch?

Interesting sidenote, I stopped shopping there because of the atmosphere. First (at least at mine) they have shirtless male models standing by the doors to welcome people. Then they have that stupid club music blaring insanely loud, then the way all the workers act and look at you. I feel like they're subconsciously telling me that I'm not good enough to shop at their store and that I'm not welcome. Its a shame because as overpriced as they are, sometimes they have a few things that I really like. My absolute favorite scarf I ever bought was from A&F.

Do you think that they will incorporate hot topic?

Gap lost it when they decided to target a teen and 20-something demographic. I'm old enough to remember when they positioned themselves as offering "basics." And the "basics" then turned trendy and to a too-young-to-afford-it demographic.

Gap would be better served if they went back to their roots of truly offering basics and marketed them to those who can afford them.

Closing stores?

But their practice of having tired-looking stores full of tired-looking, over-priced clothes and yacking salespeople who can't stop talking to each other long enough to offer help has worked so well thus far.

Old Navy is just as bad, just darker stores and cheaper, more ill-fitting clothing.

I've heard that Gap is also planning to cut Old Navy. NO! I buy lots of my clothes at Old Navy cause everything is so damn cheap (low-priced, not low-quality) but it's not like stooping down to the level of buying from Wal-Mart or Target.

But then again, I hardly shop for clothes (and dread doing so) so I don't think this will effect me a whole lot.

@ARP: By the way, ARP, Old Navy and Banana Republic are both owned by Gap. You knew that, right?

@jonworld: I thought that was implied in the comment, as in the Gap is cannibalizing its sub-brands at both ends of the price structure.

Hey Gap, here's an idea - make jeans that aren't cut to fit a 12 year old girl's hips.

Extra Low Cut? For guys? WTF? Really, WTF?

@jonworld: I highly doubt that Gap would divest itself of Old Navy. Old Navy is usually more profitable than the Gap division.

In the last few years, many commentators have speculated that Gap lost many of its core shoppers -- some to Old Navy, some to Banana Republic -- and was essentially cannibalizing itself. Gap has been trying to figure out how to reposition its brand without cutting into the healthier Old Navy and Banana Republic customer bases.

That said, I do have a lot of Gap clothes -- I find they fit better than Old Navy, and I've rarely had quality problems.

Is that....Jin?

I love me some Gap jeans. When I want a new pair of jeans I always go to The Gap. They are the best fitting jeans I own. Some jeans I bought over 8 years and they are still just fine. I am definitely not an Old Navy fan.

Mmm, that would less helpful than selling clothing that people actually want.

it astounds me that no commenter so far has mentioned gap's horrific policy of having clothes made for pennies in malaysia/el salvador/india. while many companies do this, it doesn't make it acceptable. i truly believe the strong, intelligent women that read this site have a commitment to human rights that is stronger than a $15 t-shirt from the sale rack at the gap.

companies like these really have no place in today's social climate. check out www.corpwatch.org and vote the only way that makes a difference: WITH YOUR WALLET.

I agree that Gap should go back to the basics and make clothes that fit people. So many of the jeans are too long even for normal people. Baby Gap and Gap Kids have the best clothes of the 3 but I guess those will be gone.

I used to love the Holy Trilogy (as I called it). But now I find the Gap to be boring and not at all stylish or flattering, Old Navy is always trashed and their sizing is inconsistent, and Banana Republic's price points are way too high. I have both a Gap and BR card (which I pay off in full) and like that I earn reward certificates and always get free shipping, but that is not even enough to get me to buy. The kids' clothes at ON and Gap are overpriced---I can do better at Kohl's. I will make one exception: I do love the BR Factory Stores, but there are none near me.

@jjason82:

Interesting sidenote, I stopped shopping there because of the atmosphere. First (at least at mine) they have shirtless male models standing by the doors to welcome people. Then they have that stupid club music blaring insanely loud, then the way all the workers act and look at you.

Like some, I still have some, what was labeled at the time "Gap Premium" clothes that are still in excellent condition. I still have a tie from their "Paper Boy" series. They used to be known for classic, timeless style that was mostly moderately priced. I remember when Banana Republic was was a rugged more outdoorsy focused brand. I wore my "ticking" shirt for 15 years before it wore out completely. There is now too much cross over in the Gap suite. Here is my 2 cents as my own corporate executive experience instinct tells me.

1. Old Navy: Younger audience, more fluid and hip designs. Cost sensitive

2. Gap: College and young professional. Classic stylings with a
fashionable flavor. Put the upscale wear here too combined with
Maternity and Body.

3. Banana Republic: Either remove brand or go back to outdoor rugged
and now "green" lifestyle wear.

It just seems like Gap Inc. has become like a Ford Explorer, Mercury
Mountaineer or Lincoln Aviator - same basic car different badge. Its
the same reasons GMC killed off Oldsmobile. Differentiate the brands
or suffer. It's part of creating brand loyalty too. I could go on. I
just hope they make it.

The gap at the mall where i work is closing. But so is every other store in our mall because a new shopping center in the area is attracting more business.

Or so I thought.

@cupcake_kate:

I'm 6'3" and the Gap actually makes clothes that fit me. Very few places do.

@intheq: Did this get crossposted on Jezebel? Guys read Consumerist too, ya know...

And would it be an issue if the Gap farmed out their manufacturing to, oh... Cambodia?

@intheq:

If an eight year old doesn't go blind whilst making my clothes then I don't want them. How else are you going to get that extra fine stitching? A machine can't replicate what good old fashioned exploitation has mastered for years. Especially for the price.