Filling the Gap
Published: 29 June, 2009
With its first standalone store in Ireland recently opening in Dundrum, the US clothing retailer is on an upward curve.
The global economic downturn has seen beleaguered high street retailers fall by the wayside, leaving void units in their wake. Yet, when a shop became unexpectedly available at Dublin’s Dundrum centre, Gap took the opportunity to bring its first Irish store to its eagerly anticipating customers.
“International growth remains a key opportunity for our brands,” says a spokesperson for the US clothing retailer. “The considerable interest and demand for Gap in Ireland, combined with the availability of this great Dublin location, made it feel like an appropriate and exciting step for the brand.”
The Dundrum store offers the full range of Gap clothing – women’s, men’s, GapBody, Gap Maternity, GapKids and babyGap. There are Gap concessions in a number of Irish department stores but this was the first standalone outlet for the brand on the Emerald Isle. And the response is both pleasing and “very encouraging” so far, according to the Gap spokesperson.
Founded in 1969 by Doris and Don Fisher in San Francisco, the Gap clothing brand was exported to the UK in 1986. Three years later it opened its first store in a UK shopping centre environment in Nottingham, and hasn’t looked back since with now over 50 Gap locations in the UK and Ireland within shopping centres.
Gap is also a popular choice for factory outlet schemes across the UK. “Our outlet stores cater to customers who love the styles our brands are known for, but are more focused on value,” says the spokesperson. According to recent news reports, Gap’s outlet business is very much at the forefront of the company’s current strategy, allowing it to thrive during the downturn.
Speaking at the Piper Jaffray 29th Annual Consumer Conference in the US in early June, Gap chairman and chief executive Glenn Murphy outlined plans to expand the brand internationally through the outlet and online channels specifically.
At the conference, Murphy spoke at length about how the focus on value is set to last for the foreseeable future. “We are thinking about how we can complement our core brand with outlet and online business. It’s a big move forward for us and you’ll see that in Canada, the UK and Japan,” he reportedly said. He also reiterated capital expenditure plans of $350m (£217m) for the financial year in 2009.
No one yet knows how much of this cash injection will be pushed in the direction of the UK’s shopping malls, although it looks likely to be no small figure. “As with all our brands, we look at store locations within shopping centres in the context of the market to ensure we have the right brand in the right location, to best meet the needs of our customers,” the spokesperson continued.
But, as with most great businesses, this is one being built on the foundations of great partnerships, both between the retailer’s internal property teams and external consultants, and between the retailer and centre managers in the malls it trades from.
“We find our best results are achieved when we work closely with the centre management and consider this to be a crucial partnership,” the Gap spokesperson concluded.
