It’s rare that Gap, Inc gives me an opportunity to pat it on the back for anything, but its deal to buy Athleta for $150mm (about 1.5x sales) makes a ton of sense to me.
- We’re talking a rounding error to Gap’s P&L and balance sheet – Athleta is only 0.6% of sales – but from a fragmentation standpoint this is the way to go. Aside from certain high-end apparel categories, the athletic space is the only growing category that consistently grows, and the fruits are largely shared by fewer than a dozen brands (Nike, Adidas, UnderArmour, Lulu, Lucy, Champion, Juicy, Reebok, Asics, and Russell). Gap’s core brands, on the flip side, compete with virtually everyone. Not good.
- This actually gets Gap into a category where it can add some value. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re sitting here 3 years out and Gap has grown this into a $300-$400mm brand.
- Unfortunately for Gap, that’s still a rounding error to its P&L – especially given the margin pressure it has yet to see in its core.
- Also, I can’t reiterate enough how ridiculous of an idea it is to drive an e-commerce strategy with ALL of Gap’s concepts as part of one customer experience. If I were running Banana Republic, this would take my blood pressure up big time to see customers meshing my assortments with that of Old Navy.
Gap finally getting into a segment of the market that actually grows.
4 (now 5) brands on 1 site... I don't buy it. Crossing over brands marketed to different consumers is a bad deal.