Why didn't Forth & Towne work?
Filed under: Stores We Love
Gap has announced that they will be closing its Forth & Towne division after an 18-month trial run that included stores in cities across the U.S. The line offered casual clothes for the middle-aged woman. The clothes are cute, not dramatically different from Banana Republic but with a little more of a Anthropologie-style winsomeness and the stores were a bit more restrained in style than the bouncy casual style at the Gap. Given that the baby boomer, mature woman market is only growing why didn't Forth & Towne fly? Were the clothes not right? Was the concept off or is it something else? Was it that a shop for "mature shoppers" is vaguely insulting to the modern woman who doesn't like to think of her shopping choices are being age-specific? After all, many of the women I know in their 30s and 40s are still shopping at Forever 21. It's a shame that Gap didn't give the concept more of a try though, I think in time it may have caught on.
quacksmeup 2-27-2007 @ 2:18PM
Forth & Towne
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Camille 2-27-2007 @ 3:32PM
I was excited excited about Forth and Towne opening in my city, but when I went there, the clothes were dull and dreary. Everything came in black, gray or brown and no other colors. Why can't middle-aged women have style and color?
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Sharon 2-27-2007 @ 9:54PM
There isn't a Forth & Town in my state but I liked a lot of what I saw in the ads and on the website. They're even advertising a sale this weekend, and I hope I can get some of the goodies via phone. I work in a conservative environment and a lot of their dress clothes fit the bill but weren't too dowdy. If they have a "closing out" sale, I'd love to take advantage of that by phone too!
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