The Power of Retail

Gap will be expanding to the Turkish and Saudi Arabian markets in the next five years and has signed two separate franchise deals to open 90 Gap stores and 20 Banana Republic stores. In Saudi Arabia, Gap will be tying up with the Fawaz Alhokair Group and in Turkey the company will tie up with Fiba Holding A.S. for their venture there. The first of these Gap stores will open in both countries by the end of the year and Banana Republic stores by the spring of 2008. Worldwide, Gap has more than 3,100 stores in six countries and is the world’s largest apparel retailer, but has been going through lots of tough times lately with consumers switching to rival firms such as Zara, H&M, Topshop etc. Gap has signed franchise agreements to open in several countries, including Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.