The Hindu Business Line : Bid to fill Gap in fashion needs of 35-plus women

The country's largest clothing store chain, Gap Inc, is rolling out a brand new concept store chain, Forth and Towne, to exclusively address the clothing needs of 35-plus women.

The first of the new concept chain stores, an 8,000 sq.ft. outlet with four brands offering options from classic work wear to everyday basics, casuals and dress-up for the mature woman, has opened in the upscale, 300-store Palisades Center Mall at New York.

The company is planning to open another four before the end of this month in the Chicago area.

"We feel this customer is currently underserved in the market and we plan to set up at least 30 Forth & Towne outlets across various markets through 2007," a Gap spokesperson told Business Line.

Gap Inc currently owns three other brands - Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy - and the latest is its first new concept store in almost a decade.

The new initiative could make considerable business sense for the company considering the fact that women in this category are at the peak of their earning and purchasing capacities and are known to be more loyal to brands unlike teens who are in constant pursuit of trends and styles.

Last year, women in the 35-plus category in the US accounted for 39 per cent of the apparel purchasers, spending $42.7 billion on clothes as against the $20 billion that teenagers spent.

Gap has only 3 per cent share of the market for apparel purchase by women in the 35-plus category largely because its style of clothes is currently more suited to smaller - sized, more adventurous teenage population.

The company has an 8 per cent market share of the apparel purchase in the under-35 women category.

The new store, meanwhile, will seek to cater to the more mature woman's need for smart, fashionable clothing in one shopping destination offering four brands, tailored to a range of lifestyles.

Women at this age, known for their strong tastes in fashion, can seek help from style consultants in-store to put together looks for every clothing need.

Interestingly, the accent here will be clothes styled on a size 10 rather than the size 8 model that is largely the standard followed by other labels.

Gap's entry into the mature women's apparel business is the latest development in the apparel industry which is now rediscovering this lucrative, if forgotten, segment.

The wave of mature women clothing labels that are now threatening to flood the market was, perhaps, set off by the success of Chicos FAS Inc, a mall retailer which has grossed over $1 billion in sales of its smart, bright, loose-fitting collection of separates.

Others have been quick to follow, like discounter Target with the Linden Hill label, Gymboree Corp with its Janesville label which already has 16 outlets for mature women's apparel and the all-youth Abercrombie & Fitch brand which has now entered this the segment with Ruehl No. 925 label, symbolising a high-street shopping destination only for older women.

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