5.10.2007
5.08.2007
5.07.2007
Blogging the Gap: Everybody in khaki
Think about the Gap. What do you buy there? Who shops there?
For me, Gap has always been about the basics, a reputation solidified by their advertising campaigns. Everybody in vests ...dress you up in my love... everybody in khakis ...they call me mellow yellow...
Part of its current identity crisis is that people have gone elsewhere for their basics. Why buy a white t-shirt at Gap for $15 when it's 2-for-$12 at Old Navy? Why buy a black t-shirt at Gap when the J. Crew version is $5 more, but won't fade as fast?
More than anything, Old Navy has cannibalized Gap, because when it comes to basics, why spend $50 when the $30 will work just as well?
It's always surprised me to meet people who didn't shop at Gap. Where do you buy your white t-shirts, I always wondered, but the thing is, since Gap opened in 1969, there have been plenty of stores to open and do a version of what Gap does, but a little better, a little quirkier, a little cheaper. Each one of those stores at a bit of Gap's customer base and grew its own. Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Aeropostale, J.Crew.
The question now, is how to find its own unique niche within a crowded retail market. Old Navy also needs to do this, but Old Navy's destiny is inextricably linked with Gaps. Interestingly, Banana Republic has become the tentpole for Gap Inc. Its profits and earnings have kept the company afloat and, in discussions of taking the company private or selling to an investor, its always mentioned as a spin-off to keep public...and profitable.
It seems that Gap -- and Old Navy -- have seen their future in appealing to the crowd that loves the designer knock-offs at H&M and Forever 21 and celebrity/designer diffusion lines at Top Shop and Target. The young, broke fashionista. But is that market already too crowded? And do those fashionistas even remember the Gap as anything other than a place they bought boy cut jeans in 8th grade?
Another topic for another post.
Stockwatch: GPS down .13, to 18.37.
For me, Gap has always been about the basics, a reputation solidified by their advertising campaigns. Everybody in vests ...dress you up in my love... everybody in khakis ...they call me mellow yellow...
Part of its current identity crisis is that people have gone elsewhere for their basics. Why buy a white t-shirt at Gap for $15 when it's 2-for-$12 at Old Navy? Why buy a black t-shirt at Gap when the J. Crew version is $5 more, but won't fade as fast?
More than anything, Old Navy has cannibalized Gap, because when it comes to basics, why spend $50 when the $30 will work just as well?
It's always surprised me to meet people who didn't shop at Gap. Where do you buy your white t-shirts, I always wondered, but the thing is, since Gap opened in 1969, there have been plenty of stores to open and do a version of what Gap does, but a little better, a little quirkier, a little cheaper. Each one of those stores at a bit of Gap's customer base and grew its own. Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Aeropostale, J.Crew.
The question now, is how to find its own unique niche within a crowded retail market. Old Navy also needs to do this, but Old Navy's destiny is inextricably linked with Gaps. Interestingly, Banana Republic has become the tentpole for Gap Inc. Its profits and earnings have kept the company afloat and, in discussions of taking the company private or selling to an investor, its always mentioned as a spin-off to keep public...and profitable.
It seems that Gap -- and Old Navy -- have seen their future in appealing to the crowd that loves the designer knock-offs at H&M and Forever 21 and celebrity/designer diffusion lines at Top Shop and Target. The young, broke fashionista. But is that market already too crowded? And do those fashionistas even remember the Gap as anything other than a place they bought boy cut jeans in 8th grade?
Another topic for another post.
Stockwatch: GPS down .13, to 18.37.
5.02.2007
Blogging the Gap: Fall into the Gap
I stopped in at the Gap the other day. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. In the county where I live, with three major malls, there is only one Gap.
This isn't a small, backwoods town. There's a brand new mall with plenty of other stores, like J. Crew, Guess and Banana Republic.
So I made a stop at the mall with the Gap, mainly to try on a certain dress that's gotten quite a lot of talk over at Fashionista.
But the dress (which is cute, and would work for someone else) did afford me the opportunity to spend some time in the Gap, which I rarely do and I got to see exactly why the store is having such an identity crisis.
In a good store, there will be different "stories" to tell in different parts of the store. Sometimes this is based on color -- we'll tell the orange story here, and the blue one there -- and sometimes it's based on style -- put the work story in one corner and the weekend story toward the front. Gap's stories seemed to be based on...um...yeah...
In the front of the store, there were a lot of basics. T-shirt kinds of things, drawstring-bottom pants, I think. Most of the stuff was on sale (the pants were $59.50, down to $8.97). Then there were some accessories, a table of work pants, a few racks of dresses. Next came clearance, and then in the back corner, there was denim. It wasn't fun or easy to shop and it was difficult to figure out exactly what was on sale. I wanted to pick up some camisoles, because you can never have too many, and I couldn't find them and didn't know where to look.
Part of the problem was that the store was a mess. That's not entirely the Gap's fault, just the management's fault. But it was particularly glaring, considering I was the only customer in the store, for most of my visit. It was after work and there were plenty of people in other stores I visited, so it wasn't a timing issue, it was a Gap issue.
After perusing the store, I did grab the aforementioned dress and a pair of drawstring-bottom pants. I thought about another pair of work pants, but didn't feel like searching for my size, since the pile was out of order. I ended up buying the pants. And that's it.
Stockwatch: GPS up 0.63 points to 18.35.
This isn't a small, backwoods town. There's a brand new mall with plenty of other stores, like J. Crew, Guess and Banana Republic.
So I made a stop at the mall with the Gap, mainly to try on a certain dress that's gotten quite a lot of talk over at Fashionista.
But the dress (which is cute, and would work for someone else) did afford me the opportunity to spend some time in the Gap, which I rarely do and I got to see exactly why the store is having such an identity crisis.
In a good store, there will be different "stories" to tell in different parts of the store. Sometimes this is based on color -- we'll tell the orange story here, and the blue one there -- and sometimes it's based on style -- put the work story in one corner and the weekend story toward the front. Gap's stories seemed to be based on...um...yeah...
In the front of the store, there were a lot of basics. T-shirt kinds of things, drawstring-bottom pants, I think. Most of the stuff was on sale (the pants were $59.50, down to $8.97). Then there were some accessories, a table of work pants, a few racks of dresses. Next came clearance, and then in the back corner, there was denim. It wasn't fun or easy to shop and it was difficult to figure out exactly what was on sale. I wanted to pick up some camisoles, because you can never have too many, and I couldn't find them and didn't know where to look.
Part of the problem was that the store was a mess. That's not entirely the Gap's fault, just the management's fault. But it was particularly glaring, considering I was the only customer in the store, for most of my visit. It was after work and there were plenty of people in other stores I visited, so it wasn't a timing issue, it was a Gap issue.
After perusing the store, I did grab the aforementioned dress and a pair of drawstring-bottom pants. I thought about another pair of work pants, but didn't feel like searching for my size, since the pile was out of order. I ended up buying the pants. And that's it.
Stockwatch: GPS up 0.63 points to 18.35.
5.01.2007
Blogging the Gap: Prologue
The Gap is in the middle of an identity crisis. Is it a place for basics? Is it a place for affordable, fashiony clothes? Is it a place for jeans? Even the company doesn't seem to have any answers, based on a recent survey I took.
In the next several posts -- which I hope will be daily -- I'll discuss what I see, as a consumer, and how I think they should fix it. I'll also start a nightly stockwatch, where I post how the stock is doing. Why? Because it's fun.
Will it make any difference? Probably not.
Do I care? Not really.
Will anyone read? I hope so...
Stockwatch: GPS down 0.23 points, 1.28 percent, to $17.72.
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