That highly desirable corner store at Broadway and 86th Street used to be a Gap until earlier this month. As a part of efforts to trim underperforming locations announced last year, it was closed along with a few other Manhattan locations which smacked of 10 years ago, when the mega-chain also corrected an overexpansion in the city that seemed to put a Gap on nearly every other corner. This particular store was one which many observers predicted would be shuttered due to its strange layout, and we can tell you from our own observations that it was not a particularly well designed store that probably should have been closed in any event —or at least gutted and completely redesigned.
One thing we can remember, however, is way back when the Gap was a great place to shop no matter how many branches sprung up about the city. Hopefully some of the new creative management at the company will be able to rejuvenate the chain which has held up poorly after the onslaught of H&M, Zara, Forever 21 and any number of other fast-fashion chains that have proliferated over the past 10 years.
This closing leaves only one Gap left on the Upper West Side on Broadway near Lincoln Center which is currently undergoing a long-running renovation that has left it covered in plywood even as it continues to operate. Hopefully, this means an exciting new redesign is in the works and maybe a rebirth for a battered but not quite beaten retail icon.
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