Orange County Register

Updated 8/22 at 9:30 a.m. with revised company plans for store openings and closings.

Gap Inc. plans to increase its store closures to about 115 for fiscal 2008.

In February, the owner of retail clothing chains including Old Navy and Banana Republic, said it plans to shutter about 85 stores.

The 115 closures include the following stores: 65 for Gap in North America, 2025 for Old Navy and 1510 for Banana Republic. The company also plans to close 15 international stores. These figures include about 15 store repositions, which are reflected as both an opening and a closing.

The company press release didn’t specify where the closures will be. In Orange County, the company has 13 Gap stores (including its stores for kids, baby and expecting mothers), 12 Old Navy stores and four Banana Republic shops.

Sales at North American Gap stores open at least a year fell 7 percent in the fiscal first quarter. They fell 4 percent during the same period last year. These figures are called same-store sales and are considered a key gauge of a retailer’s health.

Same-store sales for North American Old Navy stores fell 18 percent in the fiscal first quarter. They dropped 5 percent during the same time last year.

Same-store sales for North American Banana Republic stores dipped 4 percent in the fiscal first quarter. They decreased 2 percent during the same period last year.

CEO Glenn Murphy said the closures will come at a decelerating rate. Over the last six years, the retailer closed 800 stores, he said earlier this year.

There were 1,245 Gap stores, 1,065 Old Navy stores, 559 Banana Republic stores in North America at the beginning of May.

The company also plans to open about 115100 stores this fiscal year.

(Photo from Gap Web site.)

More from OC Retail:

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For more from OC Retail, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.

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