Gap

The Partnership

For almost two decades, Chipman Design Architecture has partnered with Gap Inc. to integrate their prototypical Gap, Gap Kids, Gap Outlet and baby Gap concepts into locations throughout the United States and Canada. CDA collaborates with the corporate in-house store planning team, meeting each location’s unique merchandising needs while maintaining prototypical Gap design elements. The corporate expansion and remodeling program has included both new and remodeled locations, with key value-engineering helping to maximize the design impact while simultaneously managing construction budgets and schedules.

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The Highlights

To establish its presence and stand out as a retail beacon in one of the world's busiest pedestrian urban centers, the architecture firm and Gap Inc. Global Creative Services and Store Development Team collaborated to create the forward-looking store of the future at their Times Square location. Creating a visually interesting and transparent space, the design and store layout stands as an inviting presence to the 50-million annual Times Square visitors. Integrating a new fixture design for the brand supported flexibility for both hanging and folding merchandise along the windows and store perimeter, while 50 foot platforms in the middle of the store allow for breathtaking visual merchandising opportunities of the brand’s latest story and product.

To integrate technology and flexibility into the retail experience, the team designed mobile POS stations, which enable employees to complete transactions directly from the fitting rooms as well as serve the high-volume sales surges from 11pm – 2am. Taking future customer needs into consideration, the team redesigned the ‘traditional’ cash wrap counter as a number of smaller stations positioned together, allowing for agility as the one-on-one customer experience becomes ever more crucial.

Playing with material and color selections, the architecture and design team created a cohesive and holistic concept throughout this large-scale store while offering a unique shopping experience within each Gap “shop.” The evolution of the signature white fixture, ceiling and trim details at the entrance and main floor are shifted to oak and steel materials to reflect the rugged nature of the denim offerings at the “Denim Bar.” To differentiate the Gap Kids and Baby Gap shops, the brand’s signature bold blue evolves into a shade of baby blue, featuring a whimsical framed house structure and LED-lit clouds.