Store Openings Instead Of Closings? Old Navy To Launch 800 New Store Locations

Gap Inc. (GPS) is bucking the store closure trend by announcing that its Old Navy brand will reportedly open 800 new stores as it looks to split into its own company by 2020.

Gap made the announcement on Thursday during the company’s New York Gap Investor Day event with Old Navy CEO Sonia Syngal saying that the brand plans include doubling its “fleet to 2,000 stores in North America, predominantly in under-served small market,” USA Today reported.

The company’s strategy will focus on opening about 75 stores in “off-mall locations,” the news outlet said. Old Navy had 1,140 store locations, as of February.

Gap Inc. previously said that plans are underway to spin off Old Navy into its own public company while its Gap, Banana Republic, Janie & Jack, and Athleta brands would remain under its core umbrella.

To help revive its other brands, Gap Inc. is offering international franchising of Athleta and Janie & Jack. The company is looking to initiate franchises that will offer Athleta and Janie & Jack online and in shop-in-shop formats with brick-and-mortar locations slated for the future.

“Introducing Athleta and Janie & Jack is a monumental milestone in our history and an opportunity to share more of our iconic brands with a broader, global customer base,” Roy Hunt, the senior vice president at Gap Inc. Global Franchise & Strategic Alliances said.

“Given the premium, gift-worthy children’s looks of Janie & Jack and the versatile, sustainable women’s performance apparel of Athleta, we feel the two brands will resonate with customers in new and existing markets internationally.”

Gap opened 100 locations franchise locations over the last three years, securing a partnership with AR Retail SA in January to open 45 Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy stores located in Central America and the Caribbean in the next eight years. The first of these stores was opened in Costa Rica in August.

Gap has more than 500 franchises in 40 countries and 35 e-commerce sites dedicated to Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy.

Shares of Gap Inc. stock were up 0.42 percent as of 9:58 a.m. ET on Friday.