BUSINESS NEWS
800 new stores planned for off-mall locations
Kelly Tyko
USA TODAY
Published 8:36 PM EDT Sep 12, 2019
In a record year of store closings, Old Navy announced plans to open 800 new locations as part of its upcoming split from parent company the Gap.
Company officials discussed the plans Thursday during a Gap Investor Day event in New York.
“We’ll almost double our fleet to 2,000 stores in North America, predominantly in under-served small markets,” Old Navy CEO Sonia Syngal said.
The first Old Navy store opened in 1994 in Colma, California, and as of February, the 25-year-old company had about 1,140 stores. Company leaders said the plan was to open up around 75 stores a year, “focused on off-mall locations.”
Ready for a fashion frenzy?: Target’s 20th Anniversary Collection brings back 20 designer brands, including Missoni
Chicken Sandwich War: Popeyes and Chick-fil-A are clucking for different reasons
Gap Inc. officials announced in February that they planned to spin off Old Navy into its own public company in 2020. At the time, officials also said they planned to close around 200 Gap stores over the next three years.
Along with Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta would remain in Gap Inc.
Nine months into 2019, there have already been 40% more store closings announced than in all of 2018, according to a recent report from global marketing research firm Coresight Research.
Based on Coresight Research’s figures, retailers’ earnings reports, bankruptcy filings and other records, more than 8,200 stores are slated to shutter this year and thousands of locations already gone.
Follow Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko
