Old Navy Expands

The relocation, which is set to occur in August, will make Old Navy the only Gap Inc. brand to locate all of its operations, except for its distribution centers, at its company headquarters.

Gap Inc. currently operates 889 Old Navy stores in the US and Canada and plans to open an additional 200 Old Navy stores in North America by 2007. The company also plans to pursue Old Navy brand extensions, including maternity, plus sizes, accessories and personal care.

The Old Navy brand has grown steadily during the past few years with revenues increasing nearly $2 billion in the last four years alone. For fiscal year 2004, Old Navy reported total revenues of $6.8 billion. The firm's parent company, Gap Inc. reported revenues of $16.3 billion last year.

Details of the transition were not available but a spokeswoman for Old Navy said it is the company's goal to have as many people as possible move from the firm's New York offices to its California world headquarters. The company's production and design teams have been located in New York since the brand was launched in 1994 by Gap Inc., the firm's parent company.

Kris Marubio, a Gap spokeswoman, said the company plans to help employees who are not interested in relocating find jobs within the company's two other brands. Gap Inc. currently has some administrative, corporate support and information technology offices in New York along with a distribution center.

The Gap and Banana Republic Brands, whose product development teams also are located in New York, should not be affected by the relocation, Marubio said. Collectively, the company has about 600 employees in its New York design center, including the Old Navy design team.

The company, which has more than 150,000 employees worldwide, also operates more than 1,700 Gap stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, France and the United Kingdom along with 462 Banana Republic stores in North America.