Ready-to-wear brand Gap closes stores in UK and Ireland
The Gap store on Oxford Street in London is about to close.
AP - Matt Dunham
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The ready-to-wear brand Gap began closing its stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sunday.
The American brand has been hit hard by the health crisis but it maintains its online sales.
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It's a new adventure that begins for the Gap brand, known for its jeans and classic cuts since 1969. The American brand is gradually closing its 81 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland by the end of September.
The decision fell in early July, without GAP specifying the number of employees concerned.
But the company has pledged to provide "
support and transition assistance to affected colleagues
."
The group justified these closures by “
market dynamics
”.
Gap suffered from
the health crisis
which upset in-store shopping and encouraged online shopping.
During the pandemic, the company stopped paying some of the rents for its closed stores.
In the United States, nearly half of Gap stores have already closed in the last decade.
In France, the Competition Authority gave its approval last month for the acquisition of the 21 French stores of the banner by the group Financière immobilière Bordeaux.
The FIB fund has already bought several ready-to-wear brands such as Camaïeu and Go Sport.
In Italy too, the future of Gap stores remains uncertain.
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