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Like many retailers, San Francisco-based Gap is being hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
In a filing with the SEC last Thursday, the iconic retailer announced it has stopped paying rent on its North American stores, which are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also said it may need to cut jobs to save money.
Founded in San Francisco in 1969 by the Fisher family, Gap put the Bay Area on the national and international retail map.
At the start, Gap only sold blue jeans and grew from there.
"A its peak, the Gap was a talent factory for the Bay Area, very much like what Google is today," Santa Clara University Retail Management Institute Executive Director Kirthi Kalyanam said. "This was a very important contribution of the Gap and the Fisher family."
Kalyanam told KCBS Radio that if Gap has to close some stores permanently due to the pandemic, it will likely pull through because of its portfolio of brands that includes Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta.
"When they go forward, technology and e-commerce become central to what they do, as opposed to the past when it has not been central to what they do," Kalyanam said.
The Gap has "furloughed the majority of store teams" in the U.S. and Canada, eliminated positions at the corporate level and cut executive pay.
According to the company's website, the Gap operates in 90 countries and operates over 3,100 stores with 400 franchise stores.