Business brief/leads:
Gap Names Chain 'Forth & Towne':
Gap plans to call its new brand Forth & Towne. The retailer plans to open test stores, aimed at women over 35, in Chicago and New York.
The retailer unveiled the name of its new clothing brand Thursday, aiming for an audience of women who want to dress appropriately without being swathed in yards of fabric, and who need outfits that can go from the office to the kids' soccer fields to dinner out. Five test stores will open in September, four in the Chicago area and one in New York.
Although a growing number of apparel chains profess to cater to women over 35, Gap still sees an untapped market. The retailer estimates that this group accounts for 39% of total spending on women's clothing. The boomer apparel market is about a $41 billion business, with women spending $27 billion of the total on themselves.
But the nearly 40 million American women born from 1946 to 1964 are tough customers. Boomers generally are more fashionable and adventurous than middle-aged shoppers of previous generations, and while most don't want tight or racy outfits, they also don't want to be treated like they're old.
...Gap, based in San Francisco, remains cagey about the exact look of the clothes and accessories Forth & Towne will sell. But it's clear that Mr. Pressler expects the style to be feminine -- not androgynous or baggy, as boomer women sometimes complain about clothes marketed to them. Developing a comfortable fit also will be a priority, he said. Women over 35 will be used as fit models, rather than the younger women Gap and Banana Republic use.
Unlike Gap's other chains -- Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy -- Forth & Towne is named to evoke a gathering place for women, Mr. Pressler said. The word “Forth” also is a play on words, indicating Gap's fourth brand. While Mr. Pressler wouldn't give specifics, he said the stores will be designed to encourage shoppers to spend time there for more than strictly shopping.
And who the hell came up with this name? Abbreviated, Forth And Towne comes out as FAT. Hmmm, will there be T-shirts with ironic FAT chick jokes? Or Phat farmers? Or is someone going to get fired?
update 8/24/05, yes me, in the NYT without a citation.
Forth And Town is a bit long. How about FAT for short? That should motivate the target audience.
That's actually pretty funny; I wonder if Gap corporate considered it.
F.A.T. is using the same naming strategy to go after the same soccer moms as Sag Harbor http://www.sag-harbor.com/campaign.html
I THINK THAT NAME IS OBSURD AND THEY SHOULD CONSIDER CHANGING IT.... ARE THEY GOING TO BE SELLING PLUS SIZES? THAT IS AN INSULT TO OVER 50% OF AMERICANS WHO ARE NOW OBESE....
I work for Gap Inc. and when they announced the name we all thought of the FAT abbreviation as inappropriate, so did they and it is referred to as FNT....
Interesting, Alisha. I am no longer welcome to visit any Gap website (since I use a Mac), so I can't tell if the logo plays up the N in FNT or not.