The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
NEW YORK, United States — Retailer Gap said Thursday that its sales slumped in February, sending its shares lower in after-hours trading.
Gap said its total revenue fell 1 percent to $918 million, and sales at stores open at least one year fell 4 percent. Analysts had expected those sales to grow 1.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters.
Sales at stores open at least one year are considered an important measurement of retailer performance because they leave out results from stores that opened or closed within the last year, focusing on stores that have remained in operation.
Shares of Gap Inc. slid 83 cents, or 2 percent, to $40.60 in extended trading. The stock is down 1.6 percent in the year to date.
Old Navy, Gap's largest brand, performed the best over the four weeks that ended on Sunday. The San Francisco-based company said revenue from Old Navy stores open at least a year was unchanged compared to 2014. Sales at Gap stores slipped 7 percent and Banana Republic revenue declined 5 percent.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.