Gap Inc has confirmed plans to close all 81 of its stores in the UK and Ireland with the estimated loss of more than 1,000 jobs.
The US retailer said the stores would close between late August and the end of September this year but it would continue to operate its online store in the UK and Ireland. Gap did not confirm the number of jobs that would go but is estimated to have employed at least 20 people in each outlet.
The decision is the result of a strategic review of the San Francisco-based firm’s European operations that began in October last year. Gap said earlier this month that it would close just 19 stores in the UK and Ireland as they came to the end of their lease.
Gap said on Wednesday that it is also aiming to sell off its stores in Italy and France, to be run by different franchise operators, as part of the review.
“We believe in Gap’s global brand power. We are executing against Gap’s power plan and partnering to amplify our global reach. Through a strategic review begun last fall of our Gap European business, we conducted a thorough evaluation of each market and potential partners,” the company said in a statement.
The latest closures come after Gap’s parent group closed all its Banana Republic stores in the UK in 2016. The US brand has struggled to find distinctive appeal in the highly competitive UK market.
