Gap is relaunching all of their domestic stores on July 20 with a new store setup in an effort to win back customers and gain back some of it’s marketshare. According to CNNmoney, same-store sales have declined in 17 of the past 19 months at Gap, so obviously they are trying to mend that. The new layout will feature four “shops” within the store. CNNmoney describes:
The “denim shop” will sell jeans, denim skirts, trousers, vests and jackets. The “T-shirt” shop will feature all styles in one area of the store. The “clean shop” will feature more sophisticated urban upscale clothing such as cashmere sweaters, jackets, trousers while the “hoodies shop” will showcase a collection of fleece activewear clothing such as sweatshirts and casual cargo pants.
More from CNNmoney here.
The re-launch will also coincide with a new marketing and television campaign.
The Motley Fool also has an article about the recent developments with the Gap: Gap’s New Ideas.
As a visual merchandiser, I am most excited about seeing what Gap does with this new store layout. The current store layout is very neat and clean - wood floors, white walls, bright lights, and open space. This is a layout that allows the merchandise to really stand out, look sharp and almost sell itself.
But the fashion offerings from the Gap in the past few seasons haven’t stood out. The past few seasons have not been really impressed me or made me want to spend money at the Gap (I’m sure this is a common sentiment - judging by their downward trend in sales). The colors are very monotone. When you have a huge white statement surrounded by the wood and white walls, it makes the store look very sterile.
The Gap store in the Freehold Raceway Mall was recently remodeled. Looking back on my last visit there, I realize now that this was probably a test for the new store layout. I remember seeing the distinct shop concepts within the store, reminding me of their sister store, Old Navy, but making things more organized and logical to shop.
But more than anything, I noticed the colors, new fixtures, and exciting graphics. It is an extremely visually stimulating store - a much different feel from the previous layout. If this is in fact the new layout, I am very interested to see how this rolls out across the country.
Combine the new store layout with more timely deliveries of new merchandise (we shoppers are very fickle, aren’t we? We need everything today and new something new tomorrow) and this could be the push in the right direction that Gap needs right now.
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