Gap Inc opens first Hong Kong flagship store

On November 25, Gap Inc launched its first flagship store in Hong Kong.

The new store, which is Gap’s ninth store in the Greater China region, spans more than 15,000sq ft over four floors on Queens Road in Hong Kong’s Central District. Housed in a beautiful new building with an award winning architectural design, it offers its collections such as Gap, GapKids, babyGap and GapBody.

“Opening in Hong Kong is a momentous occasion and demonstrates Gap Inc’s continued commitment to make our optimistic American style more readily available to Chinese consumers,” said Redmond Yeung, President of Gap Greater China. “Based on the demand levels we’ve experienced through e-commerce sales over the last year, we know that Hong Kong consumers have a strong appetite for Gap’s affordable, high-quality and uniquely American fashion.”

As part of Gap’s strategy to expand the international reach of its brands through its franchise, online and company-operated channels, the company now has four stores in Shanghai and four in Beijing, since the company entered China last year. In addition to Hong Kong, it will open new stores in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Tianjin over the coming weeks. Gap said it is going to grow its China fleet to about 45 stores by the end of fiscal 2012.

Gap also launched an ecommerce site (www.gap.cn) in China last year. So far it has received online orders from over 330 cities in China, covering all parts of the country, notes the company.

Stephen Sunnucks, President of Gap Inc. International, said, “For over 40 years, Gap has provided American style, celebrated creativity and made a positive difference in the communities where we conduct business. We see these same values resonating as strongly with customers and employees in China as they do in our established markets.”

For major markets such as China, the company typically enters with brand-building flagship stores, followed by outlet and smaller stores in outlying areas and an online expression of the brand. Mr Sunnucks continued: “We’re very optimistic about our entry into Hong Kong and believe it’s a natural next step for our expansion strategy in China, especially given its international relevance as a gateway to the fashion world.”

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Gap Inc opens first Hong Kong flagship store