D.D's Club

Gap Eyes Launch Of Stores In China

In the states Gap’s, Old Navy, Banana Republic are closing down and shrinking the amount of stores all over America. Gap is going to the final frontier China.
Gap Inc., after opening its first Gap store in China last November, expects to launch its Old Navy and Banana Republic brands “in a couple of years,” the company’s Greater China President Redmond Yeung told a meeting of the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club today.
“I would say 2013-2014,” Yeung said.

The Gap will open its first store in Hong Kong this month, and aims to open two stores a month in China and Hong Kong for the next 18 months, Yeung said. The company has eight stores in the mainland today, he said.
The company’s China business is growing on the back of strong consumer spending. China has more than 200 cities with a population above one million, and all of that group would be suitable for Gap to expand in, said Yeung, who predicted that the country would one be become Gap’s second most important market.

The company has set up its headquarters in Shanghai because the city is China’s fashion capital, Yeung said. Locating in Shanghai also facilitates staff recruitment, he said.

About 30-40% of items carried by Gap in China are similar to the U.S.; much of the remainder are higher-end fashion items sought by Chinese shoppers, he said.
Luxury U.S. retailers including Tiffany, Calvin Klein and Coach have also been seeking to expand in the country.