Old Navy

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The Old Navy On State Street In Chicago, Illinois

Old Navy is a clothing and accessories retailer owned by American multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in San Francisco and San Bruno, California. The largest Old Navy stores are its flagship stores, located in New York City, the Mall of America, Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco.

In the early 1990s, Dayton-Hudson Corporation the parent company of Target, Mervyn's, Dayton's, Hudson's, and Marshall Field's by that time, looked to establish a new division, branded as a less expensive version of Gap called Everyday Hero; Gap's then-CEO Millard Drexler responded by opening Gap Warehouse in existing Gap outlet locations in 1993.

In March 1994, Gap Warehouse was renamed Old Navy Clothing Co. in order to establish a separate image from its parent company Gap Inc. It was named after a bar in Paris. The new stores were about 15,000 square feet (1,400 m²), compared less than 10,000 square feet (900 m²) for Gap Warehouse stores. On March 11, 1994, the first Old Navy locations opened in the northern California towns of Colma, San Leandro and Pittsburg. According to Kevin Lonergan, Gap's director of stores, Old Navy stores were intentionally designed like grocery stores, with flowing aisles, shopping carts, and small impulse items near the checkout counters. The cement floor, metal shelving, and checkout counters built from polished pressed board and galvanized metal gave the stores an industrial warehouse feel, while the colorful arrangements and large number of employees working set it apart from other discount clothing stores. Later that year, 42 other Old Navy stores opened, and most of the 45 Gap Warehouse stores were renamed Old Navy.

Old Navy had campy television ads featuring Morgan Fairchild and its mascot, Magic the dog.

The Old Navy division grew quickly; in 1997, it became the first retailer to pass $1 billion in its first four years in business, and opened 500 stores by 2000. In 2001, Old Navy began its international expansion with the opening of 12 stores in Ontario, Canada.

The brand also experimented, opening a shop inside one location in San Francisco in December 1995, and opening an Old Navy Kids location in Littleton, Colorado, in April 1997. This in turn did not work out for the company, and was terminated the following September.

In 2005, Old Navy's then-president Dawn Robertson looked to address the competition she saw in Hollister Co. and American Eagle Outfitters by rebranding the division with a "high fashion feel". In addition to a new logo, several locations were built or remodeled to reflect the "New Old Navy."; one such location in St. Petersburg, Florida cost roughly $5 million to develop. Unlike the traditional industrial warehouse style most Old Navy locations possess, the new stores were boutique in nature, featuring green building materials, rock gardens, large murals, and posters, as well as many mirrored and silver accents. Also, advertisements began to be created in-house, and substituted the original kitschy and humorous feel for a high fashion and feminine directive. These stores proved to be a disappointing investment and Robertson was asked to leave the company.

In 2011, Old Navy began a second rebranding to emphasize a family-oriented environment, known as Project ONE. It targets Old Navy's target customer (the fictional "Jenny", a married mother of at least one child) and features better lighting, vibrant colors, layouts that make shopping easier, quick-change stations, and a more efficient cash wrap design. By July 12, 2011, one third of the company's North American locations had adopted the redesign.

In 2012, after several years of Old Navy losing sales to rival retailer H&M, Gap Inc. hired H&M executive Stefan Larsson to run its Old Navy division. Larsson instituted a number of changes, including hiring designers away from Coach, Nike, Reebok, and North Face to design exclusive Old Navy clothing. By 2015, Old Navy's yearly sales had reached $6 billion per year in the United States, almost equaling those of Gap Inc.'s Gap and Banana Republic divisions combined In September 2017, Old Navy joined Orlando Vineland Premium Outlet. Larsson left the company to join Ralph Lauren in 2015 and was replaced by current President and CEO, Sonia Syngal.

On October 26, 2017, Old Navy opened a brand new flagship store in Times Square, alongside a brand new Gap flagship store which opened on the same day. The store is significant in that it caters to New York City crowds with extended store hours and a much larger store than the average Old Navy location.

On February 28, 2019, Gap Inc., announced that Old Navy and Gap Inc. would split up into two separate companies, making Old Navy an independent company from Gap Inc.

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The Old Navy flagship store in the Philippines was opened on March 22, 2014, located at Bonifacio Global City.

Old Navy is known for their signature denim wall of styles that never change. The styles are super skinny, skinny, original, and boot-cut, and are available in four different washes.

Most stores are separated into seven different divisions: women's, men's, girls, toddler girl, boys, toddler boy, and baby.

Awards[]

In 2013, Gap Inc. ranked 5th among specialty retailers in the list of World's Most Admired.
Members of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP)
Named to FORTUNE's Great Place to Work list in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Old Navy

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