Gap Inc’s brands expand in UK as part of Next deal

Published
today Nov 21, 2023

Gap Inc may have exited direct physical and online retail in the UK a few years back, but its deal with retailer Next appears to be going from strength to strength, and the latest development sees major expansion for the brands that it owns.Banana Republic

For a start, its Banana Republic and Athletalabels have just been made available on Gap.co.uk. Their addition to this online channel “offers an increased product choice for new and existing customers, giving them the opportunity to easily shop all three brands in one, accessible destination,” we’re told. 

They were already available on the Next webstore with Banana Republic, which had earlier closed its UK operation, relaunching in the country via Next around a year ago. This was followed by the debut of Athleta in the UK earlier this year. 

The arrival of both on the parent company’s Next-operated UK webstore is just another step in their growing presence in Britain.

Meanwhile, the Gap label itself has also just taken another step to grow its UK distribution. It has been represented in the UK and Ireland by Next for over two years in a joint venture that has steadily seen its online and physical store presence growing, the latter via Next branches. 

And on 20 November, 20 new Gap concession areas were opened in Next stores across Britain and Ireland. The new concessions are in Cardiff, Cheltenham, Coventry, Edinburgh, Leicester, Kew, Newbury, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Tunbridge Wells, Wandsworth, Watford, and York in mainland Britain. There’s also Belfast in Northern Ireland and Dublin, Galway, and Limerick in the Republic.