Today In Switcheroos:SoHo Finally Gets A GAP

It seems hard to believe that with all of its chain stores over the years, SoHo has gone without its own GAP store despite having multiple American Apparels, Club Monacos and G-Stars. With all the attention we paid to the smothering service at the newly consolidated Banana Republic flagship, it might have been easy to miss that the abandoned Banana men's store had been swiftly converted to a Gap 1969 jeans concept location.
This particular branch is based on a pop-up store that was opened in August in Los Angeles to promote the chain's newly refreshed 1969 denim collections, and jeans are the focal point of the store, featuring every possible permutation of the chain's core product. Though there is stiff competition from UNIQLO up the street, we are impressed with Gap's new denim program, especially considering that the "premium" collection tops out at about $88 for selvedge styles and stands up well to much more expensive designer brands. To keep the emphasis on jeans, the rest of the offerings have been pared back with an emphasis on basics and a few choice specialty items like a leather zip hoodie at nearly $400. As easy as it is to complain about the proliferation of chain stores in Manhattan, we'll continue to praise Patrick Robinson credit for restyling the Gap back to life.
Considering that the next closest location was a long hike away up on Astor Place, it was a no-brainer to turn the space left behind by its sibling on Spring Street into a Gap. After Banana's furnishings had been cleared, Gap's store designers cleverly whitewashed the existing space, added new light wood shelves and installed a dramatic glass wall at the back of the store that serves as a window to a vast denim stockroom. Voilà! It's a Gap. While we think speed was the main priority here, we have to give the massive chain credit for "recycling" the store rather than gutting it and unnecessarily installing a new interior.
And by the way, unlike its sibling up the street, the Gap's service is appropriately friendly but not overwhelming, so feel free to walk in without being greeted to excess.
Gap 1969 552 Broadway at Spring Street, SoHo
Previously
Renovations Unveiled: Banana Republic Will Welcome You To Death

Comments

[A. J. Anderson]

I don't think it's all that difficult or inconvenient to take a quick subway up to the next nearest Gap, but it is nice to have one in this neighborhood. And the jeans are really great.

As for the service, I thought it was polite and professional, but it didn't seem all that different from the Banana up the street.

It sounds like there's something else going on in your life that has your hackles up so dramatically for that Banana store.