GAP TRIMS LINEUP

Closing 175 stores

Tough times call for tough medicine at this onceproud retail chain.

The Gap, which has been posting declining sales in its namesake stores over the past several quarters, said Monday it will close 175 of its 675 North America Gap stores in hopes of reversing the trend.

Thousands of jobs are expected to be lost. Most closures will be in the US and 140 will come this year.

The San Franciscobased company, which also owns Banana Republic and Old Navy, has been steadily shuttering stores over the past five years— but not at nearly the pace of Monday’s announcement.

Chief Executive Arthur Peck is trying to stem a drop in traffic that resulted in a 10 percent drop in samestore sales last year and a 5 percent decline in the first quarter.

Spared this time around are Gap Outlet and Gap Factory stores.

“The company closed just 38 stores in North America last year, so 140 is a big number,” said Pamela Quintiliano, an analyst with Sun-Trust Robinson Humphrey.

“When they created this behemoth store base, the retail landscape was much different,” he said. After the closures, there will be a total of 800 stores — down from a peak of about 1,300.

“These old guard retailers have one way to grow their profits: to close stores,” said Brian Sozzi of Belus Capital Advisors.

Peck, appointed four months ago, said, “Customers are rapidly changing how they shop today and these moves will help get Gap back towherewe knowit deserves to be in the eyes of consumers.”

Peck also is axing some 250 jobs at the company’s headquarters and a “limited” number of stores in Europe.

The company expects annual sales to decline by about $ 300 million after the closures. It will pay about $ 140 million for lease buyouts and employeerelated costs.

The new leadership team of Peck and Jeff Kirwan, the global president who joined in December, is driving the dramatic changes. “We’re focused on enhancing the customer experience across all of our channels,” Kirwan said in a statement, “including a smaller, more vibrant fleet of stores.”

Gap’s shares, which have fallen 9.3 percent year to date, added 1.3 percent in afterhours trading, to $ 38.69.