Gap Opened the First Store of Hill City Brand

The largest U.S. clothing retailer Gap announced the launch of the first retail store of its brand Hill City.

Monostor received its first customers in Gap’s home town of San Francisco. Pop-up store with the area of 46.5 sq.m. in the Hayes Valley area on Octavia Street, surrounded by a large number of fashion brands, will work for 12 months, the company said. The retail space includes hoodies, t-shirts, jackets, and shorts for sports – about 80 articles in total. The average cost of clothing items is $80-100. 

The launch of the store is part of the brand’s strategy to move from online to physical retail under pressure from Amazon. Simultaneously with the testing of the first physical store Hill City, Gap is considering the possibility of expanding sales of the brand in various channels. 

The Hill City brand was introduced in autumn 2018. It is a premium brand for men’s clothing and accessories in the growing athleisure segment, which combines fashionable clothing for sports and everyday life. The brand itself positions itself as the “touch of outdoor with urban life.” 

One of the objectives of the company’s first retail store in San Francisco is to engage the fashion community by participating in local events. Gap will also try to establish partnerships with online stores: individual products from Hill City collections will be available to customers at Huckberry.com, Neighborhood Goods, and other websites. 

Another channel for distribution of Hill City products will be the recently introduced “truck store,” which will run through the streets of San Francisco. This format will test the ability of customers to touch personally, feel, and buy goods of the new brand in convenient locations. The branded Hill City van will participate in street fairs and races, as well as serve as a mobile advertisement for the brand. 

Also, an exclusive capsule collection of Hill City will be sold in seven stores owned by Gap brand Athleta, specializing in women’s technological clothing for yoga and various sports. The experiment to introduce the new brand’s products into Athleta stores began in 2018 and was recognized as a success. Many market participants call Hill City the “men’s version” of Athleta, marking its launch as a response to the fast-growing menswear business managed by Lululemon Athletica Inc. According to Coresight Research’s research, the market for men’s clothing for an active lifestyle is now estimated at $88 billion: the leading sports brands Nike and Adidas remain the leaders here.