Gap Inc. (San Francisco) opened the first of four wholly owned Gap stores in China. Each new location will offer all of Gap’s collections, including Gap, GapKids, baby gap and Gap Body.
“Gap is the first American retailer in China to offer a single style destination for the entire family,” says Redmond Yeung, President of Gap China. “We are excited to introduce Gap’s cool, modern American designs to Chinese consumers.”
Gap’s 3600-square-feet Shanghai location is located in Hong Kong Plaza on Mid Huaihai Road, one of Shanghai’s premier shopping high streets. A second flagship, occupying two floors in the Venture Tech building on the premier Nanjing West Road, will open in the next several weeks.
Beijing will welcome two Gap stores this weekend, in the APM Building on Wanfujing Street and a second in Chaobei Joy City, located in the eastern part of Beijing.
To commemorate the openings, world-famous photographer Annie Leibovitz photographed a series of portraits pairing iconic Chinese and American leaders in their fields such as Zhou Xun, a Chinese actress who is devoted to sustainable development and Philippe Cousteau Jr., an environmentalist and grandson of Jacques Cousteau. These images are featured inside the stores and on outdoor advertising in each city.
Gap Inc. operates about 3100 stores in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Ireland, Japan and China and is expanding its global presence with franchise agreements in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Gap recently reported October net sales grew 4 percent to $1.19 billion for the period ended October 30, while same-store sales were up 2 percent compared with a 4 percent increase in October 2009.