The Gap was the hottest place to buy clothes when we were in college. With it's basic and non-trendy clothes, it was the way to look cool without trying to hard. Unfortunately, the company that sold only classic clothes, forgot that at some point of time, its customers were going to already own everything Gap had and would look for a change. Gap has neither been able to grow with its customers nor find itself newer and younger customers. The company has seen sales declining since 2004 and an 8% drop this past holiday season.
When I was in the US and Canada, last summer and then again in November, I visited a couple of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. The three used to be my favorite stores, as they were of most college kids. What I now saw at Gap were boring clothes, in too few colors and in too few styles. They simply had no fresh ideas. Old Navy's clothes seem to be getting flimsier by the minute but at Banana Republic, the clothes were nice. But then in fashion, nice is blase. It was definitely more fun shopping at H&M, the Swedish retailer who is taking America by storm.
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