Gap Faces a World That Doesn’t Want to Be Normal Anymore

Analysts wonder if Gap can afford to stay so large in a world where ubiquity of style is no longer relevant. The company operates almost 3,300 shops under its Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Intermix brands. Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Nomura Securities, wrote in a note to clients that he’s concerned that Gap’s businesses have overreached.

The way he sees it, Gap is “simply too large in the new normal where physical distribution has become a liability and uniformity is no longer ‘cool.’”. . . more