Here's one pivot that did pay off: Gap's, to face masks.
The company — which owns Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy — jumped into selling face masks early in the pandemic, a decision that ultimately brought it a whopping $130 million in sales, CNBC reports based on the company's reported quarterly earnings. Gap Inc.'s sales were both to individuals and in bulk, including to the city of New York and the state of California.
It is a rare retail success story during the time of COVID-19, though Gap's total sales actually fell 18 percent, even as its online sales rose 95 percent. Still, the company earned 3.5 million new customers. Gap's forward thinking was "the ultimate example of how we want to operate as a culture," said chief executive Sonia Syngal during the earnings call.
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Maybe they'll get into the patio heater business next?
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