International retailing and question as to Gap's prospects

For those following international retailing and Gap, in particular, International Expansion points to a report Posted 12/15/2010 10:24 AM by Trefis Team

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The company is executing on its plan to enter 2 of top 5 apparel markets in the world, Italy and China. Gap has opened a flagship store in Milan (Italy) and will be opening another in Rome. Gap has also opened a flagship store in Shanghai (China) with plans to open a second there as well as two in Beijing.

We anticipate that the opening of new stores in Italy and China, as well as further  expansion into emerging markets like Latin America and Asia where demand for branded apparel is growing rapidly, will drive international store sales.

Despite recent YOY growth in the company's overall monthly sales, comparable store sales from Gap's international operations have not shown any particular strength over the last two months - up 1% year-over-year (YOY) in October and down 1% YOY in November.