Old Navy plans to exit China. The brand owned by Gap will be closing all its stores in the country. Old Navy serves a core audience of value-seeking families. Children’s clothing is often an entry point to the brand. The brand has focused on increasing its size range, too, and has built an infrastructure that quickly feeds stores with what customers want rather than serving the same assortment to everyone. Old Navy first arrived in China in 2014 and currently operates ten stores in the country. The retailer is the latest in a series of international brands to beat a retreat from China in the last few years, including Forever 21, Asos and New Look.

In February 2019, Gap announced it was planning a spin-off of the Old Navy brand as a separate company, so that the consistent strong performer could concentrate its efforts into growth-oriented strategies and expansion. However, the future of the planned split was put into question when momentum at Old Navy began to slow and, in January of this year, Gap revealed it would no longer go ahead with the separation, since the cost and complexity of the operation had thrown the company’s ability to create value from the split into doubt.