The Gap represented American casual wear for a long time until the day they introduce technicolor jeans. What is up with that? The Gap was known for it's standard, decent quality jeans, shirts, and general casual look. It was sophisticated enough to get us to work, and cheap enough to get us to the bar after work. I travelled with us to Saturday and promoted the concept of one wardrobe for all occassions. It was a stable brand.
But those technicolor jeans! Then the other awful fashion decisions that targeted the Abercrombie and Fitch market. What were they thinking? That market is extremely fickle and just after the latest thing.
Basically, The Gap abandonned it's core market -- people who want something to wear for work and casual. Bannana Republic was in the higher end work clothes market and then they came down to fill the gap The Gap didn't fill. I personally still buy jeans at The Gap. Why? Because jeans in my opinion shouldn't cost $150 a pair. Jeans are denim -- an inexpensive fabric where you are looking for a good enough fit. The problem with The Gap now is that their sister store sells jeans for the same price as they do. On top of it, the same clothes with slightly better quality can be purchased at Bannana Republic. Again, what exactly was The Gap managers thinking? Bannana Republic was the upscale version of The Gap -- it was a goal to graduate to. 20 year olds at work can't afford Bannana Repulic and they certainly shouldn't be wearing clothes from Forever 21 to work.
The fatal error was the sales strategy -- if you wait long enough, these "classics" go on sale at the same prices in both stores. So essentially, you can purchase a $10 shirt at Bannana Repulic that is better quality than a similar shirt at The Gap for $10. Why introduce that level of complexity?
The Gap corporation tried to change a solidly branded store into the next American Eagle, rather than target professionals who don't make a lot of money but want to look good, which proved to be the biggest mistake going. Now they are going retro and it is getting them nowhere really fast. Why not just be The Gap -- timeless, work to casual store that they were. A place where you could buy a $10 shirt on sale as a young professional and wear it to work and then out on the weekends. As long as we have not-for-profits that don't pay a lot of money to it's employees and individuals who make under $50K per year, there is a need for that type of company. Now there's a business idea.
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