Crossing the Pacific Gap

Gap Inc. (San Francisco) has announced plans to expand into the Philippines through a partnership with the Rustan Group of Cos. (Manila).

According to the San Francisco Business Times, the retailer will open eight Gap stores and four Banana Republic stores throughout the Philippines over the next five years. The first Gap store will open by year's end and the first Banana Republic will open by spring 2008.

Rustan, which also has franchising agreements in the area with Starbucks and supermarket operators, will hold exclusive rights to operate these stores, but it will purchase merchandise from Gap or suppliers designated by Gap.

“The Philippines represents a natural market for Gap Inc. to expand its international presence,” said Ron Young, Gap’s senior vp, international strategic alliances. “The country has a strong, steadily growing economy and consumers in this market have a great interest in iconic apparel brands such as ours.”

In 2006, Gap signed its first-ever franchise agreement to open stores in Singapore and Malaysia and now has such agreements in place to open Gap and Banana Republic stores in Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.