Gap (NYSE:GPS) is rolling out Hill City, which is a new line of athleisure wear for men, similar to its Athleta brand for women.
Here are seven things you should know about it:
- The product will be a rival to Lululemon and it will complement its Athleta line, which offers yoga pants, leggings, sweaters and more that women can wear all day and night.
- The move coms as Gap’s namesake brand has posted lagging sales that have missed Wall Street’s guidance in the last few quarters.
- Hill City will first be available only as an online store. However, some of the line’s items will be available at roughly 50 Athleta stores in the country.
- The brand will be managed by Noah Palmer and it will offer more higher-end men’s athleisure wear as Gap currently only sells more affordable options such as running shorts, hoodies and T-shirts through its Gap and Old Navy brands.
- Palmer, who is a former Major League Soccer player, said that “this line is something that Gap has been thinking about for a while.”
- He previously headed Gap’s Old Navy men’s business line. He added that activewear is the “biggest and fastest growing” category in men’s space.
- Activewear sales rose about 2% in 2017 to $48 billion.
GPS stock is up about 1% on Thursday following the news.