Gap Inc. reported sales at Athleta, its women’s fitness chain, expanded in at a double-digit percentage rate in the first quarter.
Overall, sales in its Other segment, which includes Athleta and Intermix, inched up 1.7 percent in the quarter to $178 million. The small gain reflects the closing of Piperlime, a shoe-focused website, last Spring.
On a conference call with analysts, Art Peck, Gap Inc.’s CEO, said the excluding Piperlime, sales in its Other segment saw a double-digit increase, driven by Athleta. Athleta operated 122 store at the close of the first quarter, up from 105 at the same time last year. Intermix had 41, the same as the year-ago quarter.
In some brief comments on the chain, Peck said Athleta “continues to perform superbly for us, and it is positioned right in the sweet spot of the active space, which is growing faster than the overall rate of apparel. And it’s a place where we are fundamentally omni-channel in our structure and very innovative all the way down to the fiber and fabric level in terms of product fabrications. So both as a growth driver in this company, but also as a source of innovation to the rest of our portfolio, I couldn’t be happier having Athleta as part of the Gap Inc. family.”
