After a March pulse showed some very slumping sales, Gap Inc.’s stock price has taken a big hit. All in, Gap saw net sales for the five-week period ending April 2 at $1.43 billion — down from $1.53 billion a year ago. Same-store sales fell 6 percent, an unfortunate shift from a 2 percent gain a year ago at this time.
Broken out by the brands, Banana Republic continued to be the sick man of the enterprise with sales declines in the 14 percent range. Gap showed the least weakness (but no strength) with declines in the 3 percent range. And Old Navy, up until recently the most consistent performer, saw drops in the 6 percent range.
Gap shares fell by as much as 10 percent in after-hours trading last week on the report.
“While March proved challenging, we remain focused on taking the necessary steps to improve results across the portfolio throughout the year,” Gap CFO Sabrina Simmons said in a statement.
The firm has struggled to regain its footing in the last year and has beefed up its executive roster to include Steve Sare, previously at Uniqlo, as president of global merchandising. It’s also recruited Alessandra Brunialti to be VP of women’s design. Brunialti was at Banana Republic from 1995 to 2011 and also worked at alice + olivia, Calvin Klein, vince inc. and Nicole Miller in design and product development.
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