I think Gizmo mentioned the possibility that Old Navy might be going the way of the dodo in the "Recent Purchases" thread, but I found the article here.

Ubiquitous 20th Century Brands That Will Disappear

The paragraph about Old Navy says, "Old Navy is one of Gap's (NYSE: GPS) three brands and it is the one that is pulling down overall sales at the big clothing company. Old Navy has a little over one thousand outlets. Maintaining the costs of separate buying, marketing, and management costs just isn't worth it. Soon, the Old Navy stores will just be Gaps."

I'm not as much of a fan of Old Navy as I was in the past, but I think the fact that it's inexpensive works well for a lot of people. In college, I shopped at Old Navy a lot b/c they had cute seasonal stuff & b/c I could get a lot of inexpensive flip flops that I could use as shower shoes. Gap, on the other hand, is boring (to me, anyway) & their clothes are one size too big. I think they'd also have to close a lot of store locations since a lot of Old Navy locations are in strip malls that are close to a mall that already has a Gap in it. Overall, I think it's a bad decision & I've heard the same thing from other people I've discussed this with.

Thanks for the article, Megan! It was really interesting to see some brands that won't be around soon. I agree with you about Old Navy and Gap, inexpensive stuff, but sometimes boring and just too big. I don't go to either one much anymore, so I don't think I'll cry or anything, but I definitely know some people who will!

Thanks Megan for posting the article.
That was the one I had read. I'm sorry i didnt even think to post it.
I still think its crazy that they will become Gap. My Old Navy is a free standing store in a strip mall. The mall is very close by with a Gap. So you are right it should be interesting to see what they will do with the Old Navy.

It's the same for me, the Old Navy is in a strip mall very close to the GAP store in the mall.
Eventhough, I don't really shop there, I'd still hate to see it go.


P.S. I think Old Navy is worse than the GAP when it comes to vanity sizing though.