Old Navy to Almost Double Its Store Count

While Gap is continuing to shrink its presence in malls around the country, Old Navy is doing the opposite.
Setting out her intentions for the 25-year-old Old Navy when it is spun off from Gap Inc. as a separate entity next year, president and chief executive officer Sonia Syngal told analysts at an investor day in New York that she will open an additional 800 stores over an unspecified time period, pushing the total fleet up to around 2,000.
These stores will predominantly be located in smaller towns and are part of Syngal’s plan to transform Old Navy into a $10 billion revenue company.
“We’ll almost double our fleet to 2,000 stores in North America, predominantly in underserved small markets. And we’ll acquire new customers and drive lifetime value, taking that 42 million customer base, growing it through new stores and through online and getting more deeply connected to our customers to unleash the full potential,” she said.
In contrast, Art Peck, the president and ceo of Gap Inc., who will oversee Gap, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City post-split, has previously laid out plans to shutter 230 Gap stores, mainly in North America, and an unspecified number of Banana Republic stores, although he indicated at

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