Gap’s Store for Baby Boomers Opens Today
Female baby boomers who grew up in Gap jeans but found themselves sized out of the market in middle age have a new shopping alternative: Forth & Towne, Gap Inc.’s first new store concept in more than a decade.
Gap hopes to woo boomers back with a store that combines the service of a boutique, the broad offerings of a department store -- and a more forgiving fit.
Forth & Towne, which aims to be different from Gap’s three other brands -- Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic -- is opening its first store today in West Nyack, N.Y., north of New York City. Four more will open in the Chicago area next week.
The company is somewhat behind in reaching out to boomers -- its competition is well-established and includes upscale discounter Target Corp. and mall-based specialty chains including Chico FAS Inc. that have their own particular look. Forth & Towne aims to distinguish itself from its rivals with a variety of fashion statements on a selling floor that’s bigger than the average clothing store.
The new West Nyack store has clusters of merchandise: traditional career clothes such as structured suits, more loose-fitting but still dressy designs such as knit tweed pants and matte jersey skirts, casual clothing such as corduroy pants and body-hugging fashions such as skinny sweater coats and cropped jackets with fur trim.
The merchandise is interpreted differently by each of the store’s private labels: Allegory, Vocabulary, Gap Edition and Prize. A sweater coat from Allegory, which focuses on traditional career wear, is more structured, while shoppers will find looser-fitting knit wraps at Vocabulary, which offers untailored garments. Gap Edition, which highlights basic items such as Gap brand khakis, had a zip-front cropped knit jacket version, while at Prize, the label that focuses on close-fitting styles, the sweater coats were cinched.
The fashions and accessories, including shoes and handbags, are in a price range between those of Gap and Banana Republic stores. Blazers, for example, are priced from $88 to $148.
With the over-35 age group accounting for 39% of women’s total apparel expenditures, the market represents a big opportunity for Gap Inc. Forth & Towne President Gary Muto noted that Gap enjoys about 8% of the market share for female shoppers under 35, but less than 3% of over-35 customers.
Still, the launch of Forth & Towne -- Gap’s first new store concept since Old Navy 12 years ago -- comes at a challenging time for the company, whose recovery stalled last year as it struggled to find the right merchandising assortments across its brands.
Shares of San Francisco-based Gap fell 13 cents to $19.44.
