Gap Inc.'s online business was up 15% in the second quarter, helped by gains at both Piperlime and Athleta. In the Q&A session of Gap's second-quarter conference call, Glenn Murphy, Gap's chairman and CEO, said Athleta saw a “very strong response to the catalogs,” with a shift towards more performance products.
“I think Athleta is the perfect marriage of strength and beauty, a little bit more on the strength side,” said Murphy. “Not at the expense of beauty necessarily, but we're putting more of our product, our marketing and our focus on the strength side of its assortment. And that's really resonated and it's doing very well.”
He also said Piperlime has successfully expanded from shoes when it was launched four years ago to add handbags and jewelry, and most recently apparel.
“We're really likening the momentum we're seeing out of Piper,” said Murphy.
He said both Athleta and Piperlime “are young brands for us,” and the company has “high hopes for those brands, not just today but where they're going the next three to five years.”
Toby Lenk, president of Gap Inc. Direct, the e-commerce division of Gap Inc., will discuss growth opportunities for both Athleta and Piperlime at the company's analyst day being held in October.
“I think that's a well-run business,” said Lenk of Gap Direct. “The investments we made in software for universality have paid off and these two new brands are certainly part of our future.”
