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Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#71

Post by bgeeek »

sirius87 wrote: post #7

I wonder if this is a short-term strategy to force commercial property rents further down, and re-enter when they hit a feasible low. In India, GAP apparently uses their retail stores in an omnichannel strategy to "warehouse" products closer to customers in an attempt to provide next-day delivery. [1] [1] https://yourstory.com/2021/06/fashion-brands-omnichannel-fli... (paywalled, use reader-mode)

I wondered if they were just looking at how Uniqlo operate. Here in the UK, Uniqlo only have stores in London. You can find one or two other cities - Oxford, Manchester, but that's it. For anywhere else you have to shop online.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#72

Post by himinlomax »

jonplackett wrote: post #40
himinlomax wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is also the water consumption. One cotton t-shirt uses more than 2000 litres of water. That's about a month's worth of daily showers. It wouldn't be too bad if the garment would last 10+ years, but they don't. What does that even mean? Does the water just disappear?

No but it had to be turned into fresh water suitable for use which uses energy and also can’t be used by someone else. There are water shortages all over the place.

Well those areas with low water shouldn't be used to grow cotton, like almonds shouldn't be grown in water-poor California to make vegan milk ersatz.

Instead, cattle adapted to grazing in those arid areas could be a better and more environmentally friendly use of the land.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#74

Post by bgeeek »

twobitshifter wrote: post #63

Looking at old navy versus gap - gap no longer has any point of differentiation from their sister store. Why would I want to spend more at the gap for the same cheap quality as at old navy? The clothes are generic, and there’s not anything that the Gap has that makes them cooler, better designed, or a better value than something anywhere else. Looking broader Uniqlo at least has some points of differentiation with th…

Old Navy doesn't exist in the UK, though. Primark is something else entirely - it beats everyone on price, but attracts a different shopper.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#75

Post by lukas099 »

trwhite wrote: post #14

For tall guys, Gap is one of the few places you can buy 36" leg trousers and jeans. I wouldn't consider buying them anywhere else and the quality is pretty good too. I wonder if they even realise they almost have a monopoly on that.

Yep, Gap is good for talloids like us.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#76

Post by lucideer »

esyir wrote: post #70
lucideer wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your dream trend toward paying less for clothing which cost 1-10 EUR to produce or paying 100-200 EUR for clothing for which people were paid reasonably to produce? There's plenty of the latter out there if you're looking for it[0]. [0] https://www.fairwear.org/programmes/living-wage

I read his comment as "I hate the 1000% markup on clothing"

Oh I do too.

But there's two separate approaches for people who hate that markup: lowering the markup or increasing the production cost. Given current industry standards, I think the second approach is reasonable. It's also very easy to do, if you can afford to.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#77

Post by phaemon »

padthai wrote: post #53
bgeeek wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gap's quality is higher than H&M, IMHO. Zara is another of Gap's rivals that seems to be expanding in the UK highstreet, although I rarely find anything worth purchasing.

Inditex (Zara) is a juggernaut compared with Gap or Primark. The differences in scale of operations, targeting, and branding are massive. It is like comparing AWS with Cloudera.

Inditex has revenue of about $23 billion, Gap is around $16 billion, Primark is around $8 billion. They're not as far apart as you think.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#78

Post by qwerty456127 »

I would never prefer to buy anything online except in cases when it really is much cheaper this way and there is a pick-up place available during evenings. Delivery is never convenient (as I rarely am at home when they deliver) and pick-up places, when available, also tend to work very inconvenient hours.

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#79

Post by dayvid »

bgeeek wrote: post #36

Gap's problems for me: 1) Sticking Gap on everything. That kind-of logo/advertisement in huge lettering is great on the way up, but not on the way down. Superdry take note. You could not pay me to wear either. 2) Pricing and price point. It's frankly been bizarre for years. Overpriced when compared to new competitors, such as Uniqlo. Not quite good enough to compete with other stores, such as Levi's or more designer…

1) The only thing GAP has going for them IS brand recognition. Otherwise, they’re in some weird in-between of Old Navy and Banana Republic and there are numerous brands out there that have taken their market share (H&M, Uniqlo, etc.).

Re: Gap to close all 81 stores in UK and Ireland

#80

Post by ckdarby »

lucideer wrote: post #66
durnygbur wrote: post #43

My dream is not paying 100-200 EUR for clothing which cost 1-10 EUR to produce. Don't care about your lifestyle, philosophy, trends, influencers, brand and logo. I want it vulgar - cash for good quality clothes.

Does your dream trend toward paying less for clothing which cost 1-10 EUR to produce or paying 100-200 EUR for clothing for which people were paid reasonably to produce? There's plenty of the latter out there if you're looking for it[0]. [0] https://www.fairwear.org/programmes/living-wage

Both, remove human labor in the process of making clothes altogether and have it produced cheaper.
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