January 06, 2006

beauty's more than skin deep

The Journal has a piece on its front page today about the redesign of the Gap’s retail outlets (in sum, more inviting, dark wood floors, leather couches, less bright white).  The piece makes a big deal about the slump in Gap’s business, and how they’re hoping that the new look and feel will help breathe some life into their sales figures.  But then, buried near the end of the piece, is this gem…

Gap is also rethinking the product mix in each store. Instead of shipping the same sizes to each location, it’s stocking them based on an area’s demographics and what customers have bought in the past.

You honestly mean to tell me they weren’t doing this before?  If it’s true, and if I were a shareholder, I’d be looking for changes that go a bit deeper than the store’s skin…