The speciality clothing retail company, Gap Inc, spread across the pond in October 2010 with the creation of its websites gap.eu and bananarepublic.eu. Gap, which includes Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Piperlime brands, also opened a new flagship store in Milan in November 2010. This enormous store spans three floors and offers all of Gap’s styles, such as Gap Body, Baby Gap, and Maternity to name a few. However, this new flagship does not simply offer the same things that can be purchased anywhere. Gap also developed a relationship with the famous Italian design house Valentino. Valentino designed a seven-piece collection that will be sold exclusively in this new store (at least for its launch period).

As one might expect, where Gap goes the Banana Republic brand will soon follow. Indeed, a new Banana Republic store is already planned to open in Milan sometime in 2011. Gap Inc also plans to open another Gap brand store in Rome in 2011. Known for its affordable and versatile style, all of Gap Inc’s brands are expected to do very well in Italy, which is one of the world’s top five apparel markets.

In 2009 Gap’s sales reached $14.2 billion and, despite the recession, its 2010 report is expected to be even better. With over 3,000 stores in the United States, UK, Japan, Canada, China, France, and now Italy, Gap plans to continue its global expansion plan. It hopes to continue its expansion in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

At the end of the third quarter in 2010 Gap was available in 80 countries world wide and this global giant shows no signs of stopping. Clearly, Gap will continue expand into its role as one of the world’s premier retail clothing providers.