Fresh off its viral denim ad and two years into its turnaround effort led by president and CEO Richard Dickson, Gap Inc. is charting more paths for growth.
The retail group, owner of Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, and Banana Republic, announced this week it’s expanding into beauty and accessories. The beauty effort will start at its Old Navy stores this fall, adding a curated beauty and personal care section to 150 stores, with select stores operating shop-in-shops staffed by beauty associates. It plans to scale further with Old Navy and other portfolio brands in 2026.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Annual Global Retailing Conference today, Dickson said beauty is “one of the fastest growing and most resilient categories in the US,” noting the high-margin business, along with accessories, will serve as a “traffic driver” and help the company “go after attracting a new generation” of younger shoppers.
Old Navy and Gap stores previously featured a limited beauty selection, with third-party brands like e.l.f. Cosmetics sold at Old Navy and an in-house fragrance line at Gap. It’s also offered accessories, but Dickson said the company hasn’t previously “gone after it with intent.” The new beauty offerings, largely priced below $25, will include skincare, makeup, hair, and nail products, per the Wall Street Journal. As part of its accessories push, Old Navy this week debuted its first-ever handbag line, spearheaded by Gap Inc. Creative Director Zac Posen.
The expansion decision came after “a lot of rigor and research,” including insights from thousands of consumers about launching products under its own brand, Dickson said, noting beauty represents a “significant growth opportunity” for Gap Inc. While consumers remain cautious, the beauty category continues to grow, with prestige and mass sales up 2% and 4%, respectively, in the first half of the year. Also speaking at the Goldman Sachs conference, Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman said the beauty retailer “hasn’t seen much change” in consumer behavior, noting “beauty isn’t recession proof, but I would say it’s recession resistant.”
Since joining from Mattel in 2023, Dickson has been leading Gap’s turnaround focusing on growing cultural relevance particularly in the activewear, kids and baby, and denim categories. The latter grabbed headlines with a viral ad starring girl group Katseye, which Dickson said has garnered 8 billion impressions since launching two weeks ago.
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