I know Gap owns banana republic… however my gf argued that gap owns old navy as well. I disagreed on the grounds that banana republic was a higher priced store and the gap was lower priced… so they would have no need for old navy.
Maybe I’m wrong. If I am, I will happily give her an apology for pretending that I know the answers to everything.
Better apologize. She must have read the same article I did the other day. The Gap owns both Old Navy and Banana Republic, all with different target groups as customers. Old Navy is both lower priced and broader based fashions than The Gap.
Can you cite that article for interest? If it’s online… that is.
Will their corporate site do for a cite?
http://www.gapinc.com/about/about.htm
http://www.gapinc.com/about/our_brands.htm
Can’t find it. It was a wire article in the Denver Post or Rocky Mountain News - don’t remember which. Here is an online article which shows they are all The Gap:
Just out of curiosity, what would one find in any/all of these stores that they’d not find in a Marshall Fields? I use Marshall Fields as an example because I’d always liked Hudsons, but mostly because it’s a huge store with lots and lots of space, and I always see The Gap as a little alcove location inside the mall (whereas Hudson’s always has their own entrance), and I think Banana Republic and Old Navy are alcolve stores, too, right?
I guess the base question aside from price differences among the three is, what’s their niche?
Well, for one thing I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a store called Marshall Fields or Hudsons.
I think they tend to be more specialized than the big department stores. They target a more specific demographic, usually younger ages, while the department stores you name go for everybody. The dept stores also carry more objects not related to clothing, such as dishware, silverware, pots and pans, kitchen supplies, sometimes hardware, little odds and ends, although I do see Gaps and BRs and Old Navys selling little random items now.
I only shop at the Gap when I’m looking for jeans. Some stores are better than others at having styles that fit different figures, as well as lots of sizes and styles in the different leg lengths. It takes me a whole day to find a pair of jeans that stop at my ankles and don’t have a waistband that goes up past my bellybutton. Gap’s jeans are expensive, but I’d rather pay $50 for a pair that fits me, than $30 and have to snip four or five inches off the cuffs.
Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic all sell their own clothing with their own tags. Stores like Marshall Field’s (which was just bought by Federated) sell not only their name brand (Field Gear) but also clothing by other manufacturers like Polo, Nautica, DKNY, et al.
Other related brands –
Abercrombie & Fitch / Hollister Co.
Wechsler & Abraham / Abraham & Straus / Filene’s / F & R Lazarus & Co. (Lazarus) / Bloomingdale Brothers (Bloomingdale’s) / Rich’s / Rike Kumler (Rike’s) / Shillito’s (Shillito-Rikes) / Broadway / Emporium / Winestock’s / Jordan Marsh / R. H. Macy & Co. (Macy’s) / Stern Brothers (Stern’s) / Goldsmith’s / Bon Marche / Burdines / Bullock’s / Davison-Paxon-Stokes (Davison’s) / O’Connor Moffat & Co. / William H. Block Co. / I. Magnin / Maas Brothers – This year, I believe, the company (Federated Department Stores) will finish converting all these names to Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s
The Limited / Victoria’s Secret / Express / Bath & Body Works / White Barn Candle Co. / Henri Bendel
Bon-Ton / Elder-Beerman / Eyerly’s / McMeen’s / Mailmans / S. Grumbacher and Son / Maxwell’s / Fowler’s / Pomeroy’s / AM&A / Hess’ / C. E. Chappell & Sons
J. C. Penney / Renner
Also –
Lord & Taylor / Foley’s / Marshall Fields / Famous-Barr / Filene’s / Hecht’s / Kaufmann’s / L.S. Ayres / Meier & Frank / Robinsons-May / Strawbridge’s / The Jones Store / David’s Bridal / After Hours Formalwear / Priscilla of Boston / Gary’s Tux Shop / Gingiss Formalwear
Nordstrom / Faconnable
Saks Fifth Avenue / Parisian / Proffitt’s / McRae’s / Younkers / Herberger’s / Carson Pirie Scott / Bergner’s / Boston Store / Off 5th / Club Libby Lu
Sears / Land’s End / Orchard Supply Hardware
Urban Outfitters / Anthropologie / Free People
What’s even more interesting is the fact that in many areas, what seems to be a competitive market with at least two vendors in a demographic is false, because all the brands are actually owned by the same company – such as (using some non-department store examples) –
Zales Jewelers / Gordon’s Jewelers / Bailey, Banks & Biddle Fine Jewelers / People’s Jewellers / Mappins Jewellers / Piercing Pagoda
Lee / Rustler / Wrangler / Gitano / Earl Jeans / Riders / JanSport / Eastpak / Lee Sport / The North Face / Nautica
True Value Hardware / Grand Rental Station / Taylor Rental Center / Home & Garden Showplace / Induserve Supply / Party Central
Starbuck’s Coffee / Seattle’s Best Coffee / Torrefazione Italia
Staples / Quill
Durex / Dr. Scholl’s
Kay Jewelers / Jared: The Galleria of Jewelry / H. Samuel / Ernest Jones / Leslie Davis / J.B. Robinson Jewelers / Marks & Morgan Jewelers
Russell Stover Candies / Whitman’s Sampler
Phillips / Norelco
LensCrafters / Pearle Vision / Things Remembered / Cole Managed Vision / EyeMed Vision / Sunglass Hut / Watch Station / Watch World / Chanel Frames / Ray-Ban Frames / Revo Frames
CVS / PharmaCare / Eckerd
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey / Canadian Mist Canadian Whiskies / Southern Comfort / Early Times Kentucky Whisky / Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky / Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey / Pepe Lopez Tequilas / Don Eduardo Tequilas / Glenmorangie Single Highland Malt Scotch Whiskies / Glen Moray Single Malt Scotch Whiskies / Ardbeg Islay Malt Whisky
Borders Books / Walden Books / Brentano’s
Barnes and Noble / Bookstop / Bookstar / B. Dalton / Scribner’s
Grocery chains tend to have a lot of brands, but these brands are usually regional and don’t “compete” in the same localities.
Wow, where did you find that, or did you know if off the top of your head?
The first set off the companies’ own Web sites, the second set from the Buy Blue Web site (http://www.buyblue.org). I knew about Borders/Walden/Brentano’s after seeing a gift card at Borders.
You left off the Target empire, formerly known as Dayton-Hudson:
Target / Mervyn’s / Dayton’s / Hudson’s
Target no longer owns Mervyn’s, Dayton’s or Hudson’s (and I doubt that there are any Dayton’s or Hudson’s stores left).
Also: Gap has a special approach to “seasonal” colors. Because they sell their own clothes, and because all of the mall chains adopt basically the same palette at once (when the new season’s colors come out), most stores try to pick clothes that will match well with almost anything else bought that season. Gap clothing always uses hues and tones of the hot colors that are just slightly different, so that a Gap T-shirt will clash if you layer it with anything else seasonal – unless that “anything else” was also bought at Gap.
I have a pair of grey cargo pants that looked great when I bought them (because my wardrobe happened to be “in season”) but manage to look bad with anything but pure black or white shirts. The grey has green undertones that cause it to clash horribly with pretty much any color except the other neutral tones Gap was selling that year.
I just spoke with a friend who is a manager for an Old Navy, he stated that in the 4th quarter '05, Gap will be opening two stores for plus sizes (name wasn’t available yet.)
Gap is opening a store with plus sizes?
They should call it cheeseburger republic (sorry it had to be said)
I was thinking “The Wide Gap”.