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Historic winter storms and subsequent store closures weighed on Gap’s performance during its holiday quarter and contributed to worse-than-expected results at its portfolio of brands, the retailer said Thursday.
Cold weather, snow and ice throughout much of the U.S. in January led to about 800 temporary store closures at the storms’ peak, contributing to a miss on comparable sales for Old Navy and mixed companywide results, the retailer said.
“Old Navy and all the brands were actually trending better heading into that weather disruption,” said finance chief Katrina O’Connell. “The good news is the trends recovered immediately after those storms passed.”
Across the business, which includes Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta and Gap’s namesake banner, the retailer reported mixed fiscal fourth quarter results – missing expectations on the bottom line and meeting consensus on revenue.
