Clothing Stores

Gap Inc. said it is eliminating 1,800 jobs as part of a broad restructuring aimed at making the company more nimble and less bureaucratic. The job cuts are expected to result in $300 million in annualized savings as part of a plan outlined in March, the company said Thursday. The positions being eliminated are mainly at its San Francisco and New York headquarters as well as some senior field roles. Gap Inc. said it is eliminating 1,800 jobs as part of a broad restructuring aimed at…

Gap Inc. is eliminating hundreds of corporate jobs from its global workforce as part of a broad restructuring aimed at making the company more nimble and less bureaucratic, according to people familiar with the situation.  The current round of cuts is slated to be larger than in September, when Gap eliminated roughly 500 corporate positions, one of the people said. Those job cuts were mostly at its main offices in San Francisco and New York, and were part of efforts to save about $250 million…

So far in the 2023 proxy season, shareholder activists have shown more bark than bite. At companies including Walt Disney Co. , Salesforce Inc. and Bath & Body Works Inc., big-name activists have prepared to battle for board seats, only to quickly agree to truces. So far in the 2023 proxy season, shareholder activists have shown more bark than bite. At companies including Walt Disney Co. , Salesforce Inc. and Bath & Body Works Inc., big-name activists have…

European antitrust authorities raided the Italian offices of the Gucci fashion house this week, part of a probe the company said was focused on potential anticompetitive behavior in the fashion sector.  Gucci owner Kering SA disclosed the search late Wednesday after the European Commission said earlier in the week that it had conducted unannounced inspections at several fashion companies. The commission said it was probing whether the companies had violated rules that “prohibit cartels and restrictive…

Walmart Inc. is selling Bonobos Inc. for $75 million, a fraction of what it paid for the menswear brand and the latest sign the big-box retailer is unwinding some of its e-commerce plays. Walmart is selling Bonobos to the fashion retailer Express Inc. and the management firm WHP Global, the companies said Thursday. WHP Global will buy Bonobos’s brand for $50 million, while Express will acquire Bonobos’s operating assets and assume the related liabilities of the business for $25 million.…

At Uniqlo’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, shoppers can checkout simply by placing their goods in gleaming bins of automated stations. Unlike the self-checkout process at many stores, customers of the casual apparel retailer don’t need to scan individual items or look up prices on a screen—they can simply drop their items in a bin and pay. This next-generation process is powered by radio frequency identification readers inside the checkout machines, which automatically read hidden RFID chips embedded in price tags. It is…

The maker of Tonka trucks and Lite-Brite normally introduces four new toys a year. Last year, Basic Fun Inc. introduced one. Manufacturers and retailers of everything from computers to dresses hit pause in the past few years when it came to innovation, the result of pandemic-related upheavals in the design, manufacture and distribution of goods, industry executives said. Shifting consumer demand and the expectation of an economic slowdown also played a role, the executives said.  New merchandise gives…

The chief executive of Macy’s Inc. M -1.01% will retire after steering the department-store chain through several crises, handing over its future to one of his lieutenants. Jeff Gennette, a Macy’s veteran who took over as CEO in 2017, will step aside in February, the company said. He faced the rise of Amazon.com Inc. as an apparel rival, fended off an activist investor’s calls to split Macy’s stores from its e-commerce business and managed…

Foot Locker Inc. FL -5.56% forecast a year of declining sales and a 30% drop in profit as the company closes stores, exits businesses and spends more in areas such as technology and wages. The sneaker and athletic-wear retailer said the changes are part of a reset year under new Chief Executive Mary Dillon that is expected to yield higher profit and sales starting in 2024. For the coming…

For years, Zara owner Inditex SA ITX -5.11% vied with H&M HM.B -8.47% Hennes & Mauritz AB for global fast-fashion supremacy. Now, the Spanish retailer is pulling ahead of its rival, partly as its pricier offering has set it farther apart from new low-price, online competitors such as Shein.The perception among shoppers that Zara is more upmarket than H&M has also given the brand more leeway to increase…