Gap Inc. exiting malls, to shutter 350 stores by 2024 Greek insolvency overhaul during pandemic triggers spat
San Francisco-based retailer Gap Inc., which was for decades a fixture at shopping malls around the country, said Thursday that it will be closing 220 of its namesake Gap stores – or one-third of its store base – by early 2024. That will result in 80% of its remaining Gap stores being in offmall locations.
As part of its restructuring, Gap Inc. said it also plans to close 130 of its Banana Republic stores in North America in three years.
The announcement made at a Gap Inc. investor meeting detailed a three-year plan that calls for closing what amounts to 30% of the company’s Gap and Banana Republic stores in North America and focusing on outlets and e-commerce business.
And the company plans to add more of its thriving low-priced Old Navy and Athleta stores.
Executives said that Old Navy, Gap Inc.’s biggest business with annual sales of $8 billion in its most recent year, is forecast to grow to $10 billion by early 2024. The plan is to open 30 to 40 new stores in the next three years.
Old Navy now has about 1,200 stores.
Athleta, which sells activewear, is forecast to double in revenue to $2 billion in that time frame. It has about 200 stores in the U.S. Its goal to have roughly 300.
The Greek government’s opposition is trying to block new insolvency legislation that it argues would leave vulnerable mortgage holders more exposed to repossession during the pandemic.
The conservative government is overhauling its bankruptcy regulations, replacing a protection program for distressed loans on primary homes, which expired in July, with a state subsidy program.
The government says the proposed changes would be better targeted and would ease pressure on banks still coping with a mountain of loans left unpaid during years of financial crisis.
The overhaul has also received support from Greece’s bailout creditors which control repayment terms for most of the country’s massive national debt and argue that reform is needed to stabilize the banking system.