Are Gaps new clothes for boomers any good?
Forth & Towne, the new stores from Gap Inc., was born of a statistic. The company which also owns the Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic sells clothes to about 8 percent of women under 35. But it reaches only 3 percent of “older” women: that is, women 35 and over. And so it has created Forth & Towne with the intent of luring in this demographic. Women over age 35 are, in the words of Forth & Towne’s president, Gary Muto, “underserved.” They have more income than younger women, but fewer places to shop. For most middle-aged women, the mall is a barren wasteland: Apart from Eileen Fisher, which peddles roomy clothes in natural fibers, and Chico’s, which sells ethnic print sweater-coats and the like, it’s just tumbleweeds rolling through the food court. As a result, many women in this demographic are forced to comb through the racks at department stores or pore over catalogs like Coldwater Creek and J. Jill. For women in this age group, shopping can be a time-consuming (and, at times, fru
