Gap expands into home under new partnership with Walmart

This photo provided by Walmart shows items from the Gap's home collection. Gap and Walmart are joining together in a multi-year strategic partnership to introduce a Gap home collection that will be exclusively sold on the discounter’s website, starting June 24, 2021 (Walmart via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Gap will begin selling a new home goods line exclusively through Walmart's website next month under a multiyear partnership.

The collection of more than 400 items is Gap’s first venture into the home category and it's selling everything from bedding and bath goods to home decor. The collection will appear on Walmart's site on June 24. They will eventually make it into Walmart stores, the companies said, though no financial terms were disclosed Thursday.

Walmart has aggressively expanded home goods sales, a category that grew even hotter during the pandemic as spending shifted from dining out and travel, to the place where families spent most of the last year.

Anthony Soohoo, executive vice president of Walmart’s home division, told The Associated Press that adding a brand like Gap will attract new customers.

Gap, at the same time, is looking for other avenues for growth with its Gap and Banana Republic stores struggling. Its low-price Old Navy and athletic-inspired Athleta businesses have been the bright spots.

Mark Breitbard, CEO of the Gap brand, said the home is a natural extension of the Gap brand. The deal is also part of Gap’s overall strategy of expanding licensing deals to broaden its distribution while the company focuses on its core business.

“It felt like a natural partnership for us to leverage their expertise and their reach and their incredible digital reach as a way to bring new customers into the Gap brand and expand the Gap brand into this new category," Breitbard told The Associated Press.

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