The Gap needs to stop trying to compete w/ the Forever 21s, Hollister & Abercrombie - they are not going to attract that crowd - go to your roots - quality, comfortable, fashion but not trendy clothes that fit the family - i loved the Gaps jeans - now i don’t even bother to try them on - Boomers still care about fashion and there are only a few Forth & T’s - how bout carrying clothes the rest of us can & WILL buy?

My problem with the Gap is that suddenly their jeans don’t fit me… and, besides that, every pair of jeans in the store looks like somebody put it on and rolled around under a car that was leaking oil.  Seriously, I’m not paying for jeans that make me look like a auto mechanic who forgot about soap.

Gap is boring boring boring!!! Last time I walked by one they had five mannequins in the window all dressed in khakis and white button down shirts. Exactly the same. And then I heard that their stores were in trouble.
I never shop there anymore and just get basics at Banana because there is no originality. I shop for most of my clothes at Anthropology because they all have fantastic details that make them look unique.

As a decade long shopper at GAP, I’ve witnessed what I see as a slow but steady decline in quality and offerings of basics. I have and probably will always see GAP as my “basics” store, and when I go in there to see fuschia ruffled tees and velvet-tiered skirts, it’s never without chagrin. I like my staples, and they’re harder to find now then they used to be.

Probably my biggest complaint about GAP, though, is their size stock. You have a better chance of making out with Angelina Jolie in Spain during a winter storm than you do of finding a size 2 or 4. It’s horribly frustrating and has been the root of many a GAP cursing under my breath (sometimes, not so under). At the same time, I can always find what’s sold out in my size in a size 14. SMALL PEOPLE need love too, GAP.

Gap Crap! I’ve hated that boring place for several years. I don’t like the fits either, too constraining and itchy, that’s true for me (14) and my kids (and two of em need a slim.)

Remember that “Every Gift Only Gap” Xmas ad a few years ago? I think that really sunk them. It was just too insulting and obvious to admit that their goal was to dress everyone ALL the same. Like the one marketing guys says above, quirkiness is back in and the GAP just does not offer that at all.

My closest Old Navy is well maintained, but I have been in some of those yucky ones. OldNavy pant fits are iffy and the fabrics do fade, but I can’t say our Old Navy stuff has gone to shreds the way H & M stuff does. That stuff is downright shoddy.

Sometimes it just feels like there is no where to shop for the fam. Target? Cozy but thier stuff fades and pills badly.

Gap needs to go back to what made them famous…JEANS!  Also, they need to make jeans for women who actually have a derri�re.  It seems like they make jeans for the “hangers” who model them.

... I am wearing gap jeans right now. I love them. Most of my friends also love them, but tend to go for AF, AE, Hollister just because those brands are “hot” to wear. Personally, I’ll stick with gap. I would be seriously depressed if my favorite store died. I’m a little too poor for them, but I shop there as often as I can!

Gap needs to decide who their customer is and stick with the decision.

Banana Republic needs to bring the design up to the price point.

Old Navy is doing okay, I think. I’d like to see the wovens/work clothing reach the same quality as the knits (tees and fleece and yoga pants), but on the other hand that would raise the prices.

I have been disappointed in the GAP and all its divisions for a while. I used to be able to find lots of stuff I liked at all their stores, and now it is just onesie-twosie. I am willing to spend money on things that are noce, fit well, and last, and lately their product has fallen by the wayside. Even BR is boring—-in fact, I much prefer the BR factory store, though there are none near me. What I would like is to be able to order from all three stores in one purchase, instead of store by store. That would be really nice, and I would be more likely to buy if I could combine store purchases. I realize this might be hard for them to implement logistically, though.

In any case, I used to shop all three divisions all the time, but lately I have been bored by them all, except for random items. I do like Piperlime and have purchased some shoes from them, but worry that yet another division will take the company’s focus off of fixing what is currently broken at their mainstay divisions.

jacquelyn
http://fashionableyetfrugal.blogspot.com/

My biggest problems with clothes today is that a young professional career woman must either dress like a slut (Express) or a church lady (Ann Taylor). 

Forth & Towne is great for the 35+ crowd, but at 30, single, no kids, I’m not ready to look like a soccer mom.  I need professional clothes and decent prices that are age appropriate, which is like looking for a needle in a haystack these days.

Banana Rep. is more my style—clean lines, conservative colors, clothes for all occasions—but shame on them for charging upwards of $85 for rayon pants (or jackets!) with no lining.  Do designers even know what lining is for nowadays?  It’s not for warmth (the main argument against it here in sunny So Cal), it’s for fit: is you have lined pants, you can wear regular underwear with no VPLs. Us ladies with a little junk in the trunk find thongs highly uncomfortable.

Old Navy prices match the quality.  I’m not looking for clothes to last a lifetime, just a outfit for this season.  Especially since ON has a 3 wash rule (3 washes and it’s done!)

I haven’t been in a Gap in 3 years.  If they were more like NY&Co, I’d take a gander.  I like contemporary but not trendy clothes, and conservative clean lines.  Stores like NY&Co (and the late Limited) serve those needs.

I like the Gap for summer basics and for MACHINE WASHABLE pants to wear to work (I’m a teacher).

I’ve been disappointed lately with the Gap though, because the store seems to have just one type of clothing in it at a time.  During the holiday season it was sweaters with gift tags attached to them, and now it’s sweat shirts and t-shirts.  They need more of a variety of clothes to wear to work, in addition to the sweaters and button down shirts.

The sizing at the Gap is ridiculous.  I’m a medium framed person and the small is often a little loose, so small framed women who wants clothes just can’t shop at the Gap.

Old Navy is always a mess because it is always a mob scene.  It is perfect for teenagers looking for disposable trends and families on a budget.  Banana Republic has nice basics for professionals and when in a pinch, I’ll shop there to buy a dress for a wedding or holiday party.

In my opinion, the target audience of the Gap is disappearing because the middle class is disappearing.  Most Americans can only afford to shop at Old Navy, so they don’t even walk into the other stores.

I love GAP’s prices and the quality of their clothing but every time I walk into that store, I get sick to my stomach. Perhaps it is just my local GAP but everything in there is white and khaki. Everything is so bland and colorless.  I’m not talking about filling the store with rainbow and tye-dye, but I am talking about sprucing the place up a bit.
I really feel like they’re all mixed up. I find the classic button up white shirt next to the faded black skinny jeans with the zipper at the bottom? Hunh? That doesn’t make any sense.
Love the Product (Red) though.
They should just focus on increasing awareness about the Product (Red) campaign rather than celebrities.
Old Navy is filty. Disgusting. The clothes are thrown everywhere, everything is dusty, and while I love the prices and the trendiness (why spend a lot of money on something that might not be the most stylish thing in a year or two?) but the poor quality is something to worry about. I wouldn’t mind a raise in a dollar if it means that my tank won’t lose it’s shape and hang off of me by the end of the day (true story-on a trip to Atlanta, I put on my Old Navy tank that was a perfect fit in the morning and by five, it was baggy and showing off my bra).
Banana Republic is a beautiful store and I love the sales. At least Gap Inc. got something right.

I guess I’m in a minority, because Gap jeans are the only ones that fit me perfectly. (But then, when it comes to jeans fit, everybody’s a minority.) And unlike most “stretch” jeans, the Gap’s actually have STRETCH WAISTBANDS! I know, what a concept. :-)

I also love their “favorites” tee shirts, which I get in multiple colors to wear under shirts and sweaters. And BTW, I’m well over 50 years old. For me, the Gap still provides classic casual wear.

Having shopped these stores for 20 years I can see where the problems are coming from. Prices are going up and the quality just doesn’t seem the same anymore. Case in point, my husband wore only Banana Republic shirts when we met over 10 years ago. We’d shop at the Gap & Old Navy for our casuals as well and this was at a time in our marriage when money was tight. My daughters and I still shop Old Navy, but my husband absolutely hates their ‘men’s” section.

  As my husband recently put it when I suggested we go to Banana Republic to get him some new shirts he replied, “I’m not wasting 30 bucks for a darn t-shirt. I can buy 3 or 4 similar ones at Wal-Mart for the price of one.” This from the man who will shell out several hundred dollars for a(what I consider ugly) jacket just to go fishing in a few times a year because it is high quality.

  Consumers aren’t going to pay big bucks for generic looking items or items that have little functionality or quality. If we wanted that, that’s what Wal/K-Mart is for and the quality of their stuff is much better than it was years ago. Now, if we want name brand we just browse the local Ross type stores.

  Gone is the excess of the 80’s & 90’s. Maybe these stores (especially the Gap & BR)should realize that they might be better off selling 2 shirts at $20 dollars each and make $20 dollars ($10 per shirt)instead of trying to sell 1 shirt for $30 with the same $20 overall profit. Yes, I’d be paying $10 more in the long run, but at least I would have 2 shirts and they would have had my business and be 20 bucks richer.

I am a Forth and Towne fan. In fact, just bought a couple of pieces in Century City on Saturday. I’m lucky that I have access to three of the stores (Chula Vista, Century City and Topanga Plaza).
What I spent in BR is now in Forth and Towne, because I am on the higher end of misses’ sizes and am over 35.
As for Old Navy, I hope the new dress I got won’t be a 3 and done. I don’t plan to wash it, though. It’s going to go to the dry cleaners.
And I don’t know how to fix Gap proper. The only things I buy from them are outerwear (trench coats and jackets).

It was just this Christmas when my father looked at the tv and asked when the Gap became a hip-hop store…and I said it hadn’t but it sure looked like it wanted to be.  Gap doesn’t know who they are advertising too and have lost touch with their demographic.

To be honest some of the stuff I’ve seen at the Gap is just wrong…I want sweaters that I can dress up for work or wear with jeans for the weekend.  I want jeans that are flattering, and not disgusting skinny jeans.  T-shirts are cool, just do them in flattering colors.  And skirts shouldn’t be so short you couldn’t wear them to your grandmother’s birthday.  Basics should be there in the store, but also have some trendy items…just don’t go too out there and have crazy puffy jackets with fur-lined hoods..yeeech… 

I love BR clothes.  They are classic, professional and make me wish I could afford them more often. 

ON is disgusting.  There’s dust on the floor and the clothes are never in order.  I would by party clothes there in college because I didn’t care if beer got spilled on them.  But I can’t remember the last thing I got there.

Forthe and Towne is not near me so I can’t tell…but piperlime is a waste…seriously why not carry a smaller line of shoes in gap stores…like you do at banana…those are at least nice and you won’t find the same shoe for 20% less down the street.

I like the Gap—I can always find something cute and unique there.  But have you seen their website lately?  The photos of jeans/pants feature kockneed gurlz in beat up sneakers—YUKK!!  Why pitch cute clothes to tomboy fugs?????

Gap should jazz it up a bit in terms of colors. Maybe start making those basics in unique but wearable shades of purple, green etc. Oh and carry more small sizes. I love Old Navy, there clothes seem to last for a season or two just fine as long as you air dry them (which I do anyway because I hate shrinkage). The Old Navy in my medium sized city is very nice, clean and never too crowded (except on Saturdays)

The only store I’ve been in (out of BN, GAP, etc) us Old Navy. I have to agree, there clothes aren’t usually in order and it is kind of dusty. There clothes are pretty generic as well. I only shop there to buy my jeans, and maybe flip flops, and the rest at American Eagle, Abercrombie, etc (I’m 14). ON clothes are just BORING. I have bought a few items, like tops, from them, but have never worn them.

I think Gap should liven up. Get with the bright fashiony movement. They should feature limited time or even better (full time) items designed for less by famous designers. Most women die for that. Target has gotten it down, and it looks like it’s doing more than good. To me, Gap seems stuffy, plain Jane, business meets comfort, and sells overly priced blah nothingness. I don’t even like the atmosphere when I walk in to their stores. The last thing they did, was the (Product) Red line. Even having Oprah publicly praise the line, couldn’t rescue them from the bottomless hole they’re in, like they were probably hoping. So Gap here is some words of wisdom, “Get with program, and sell stuff we actually like”!!

Interesting comments. I’m a small-framed male, in my early 30s and 5’9”. I find GAP clothing fitting me very well. I wear their XS size for their tops and 28” for their pants. I agree, the selection is a little limited when it comes to style but I’m finally thankful that in the US of A I have found a clothing store that actually carries clothing that fits me. I have no problem shopping in East Asia, but in USA, everything is usually too big.