Old Navy to Scale Back Its Inclusive Sizing Strategy
CEO says stores will no longer carry all sizes, expects inventory imbalances to smooth out by fall
Old Navy is scaling back an attempt to make women’s clothes more inclusive for all body types, after demand for the larger sizes fell short and the chain didn’t have enough middle sizes.
Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal said Old Navy stores will no longer carry all the sizes. Old Navy will continue to offer on its website the full size range, which runs from 0 to 30 and XS to 4X.
Ms. Syngal said Old Navy canceled a portion of its extended size shipments and is restocking core sizes that had sold out.
She expects the size imbalances to be smoothed out by the fall.
The missteps at Old Navy, which were detailed in an article in The Wall Street Journal, contributed to a steep sales decline and quarterly loss at the chain’s parent company.
Gap Inc.’s net sales fell
13% to $3.5 billion in the three months to April 30. The company lost $162 million in the period, compared with a profit of $166 million a year ago.
Old Navy accounts for the majority of Gap’s sales and more than three-quarters of profits.
Net sales at Old Navy fell 19% to $1.8 billion in the recent period. Comparable-store sales, which exclude newly opened or closed stores, slid 22%.
Ms. Syngal said the company also struggled with a shortage of dresses, tops and pants because of supply-chain delays and rising inflation which impeded consumer demand, particularly at Old Navy, which tends to appeal to more lower income shoppers than its Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta brands.
When Old Navy launched the inclusive sizes in August, Ms. Syngal told analysts that the rollout was the “largest integrated launch in the brand’s history and an important growth driver for the business for years to come.”
Old Navy did away with separate petite and plus-size departments in its roughly 1,200 stores and grouped all sizes of each style together. Mannequins in varying body shapes displayed the new wares.
All sizes of a style were priced the same, a break with an industry practice in which retailers charge more for larger sizes.
Retailers from Victoria’s Secret & Co. to Target Corp. have embraced size inclusivity by adding more styles in small and large sizes to win over new customers and promote more positive body imagery.
Analysts said few chains have gone as far as Old Navy in trying to court customers of all body types.
The strategy resonated with some shoppers, but frustrated others.
“Old Navy made me feel included and worthy of having clothes that look nice even though I’m a larger person,” said Felicia Graves, a 33-year-old Austin, Texas resident.
Nicole Cueto said she has been shopping elsewhere for activewear and jeans, because it has been hard to find her size at Old Navy in the past few months.
“They mostly just have larger sizes and sell out of the small sizes,” said the 39-year-old publicist, who lives in Manhattan. “It is super frustrating.”*