Gap announces the closure of ALL 81 of its stores in Britain and Ireland as fashion retailer moves its business online-only

Gap has announced the closure of all 81 of its stores in Britain and Ireland as the fashion retailer moves its business online-only.

Phased closures will start in August and continue through to September, the US chain revealed.

It comes after a year of coronavirus lockdowns battering the UK high street, with other popular chains including TopShop going under. 

In a statement, Gap blamed 'market dynamics' for the closures, and vowed to offer 'support and transition assistance' for staff members. 

It is not clear how many jobs are at risk. 

Gap has announced the closure of all 81 of its stores in Britain and Ireland as the fashion retailer moves its business online-only (file image)

Phased closures will start in August and continue through to September, the US chain revealed. Pictured: The chain's website

The statement read: 'In the United Kingdom and Europe, we are going to maintain our Gap online business.

'The e-commerce business continues to grow and we want to meet our customers where they are shopping. We're becoming a digital first business and we're looking for a partner to help drive our online business.

'However, due to market dynamics in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, we shared with our team today that we are proposing to close all company-operated Gap Specialty and Gap Outlet stores in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in a phased manner from the end of August through the end of September 2021.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in San Francisco, the firm (a store, pictured) has struggled in recent years and like most retailers saw store footfall slump during the pandemic

Doris and Donald Fisher, pictured in 2007, launched Gap in 1969 and saw their clothing store in San Francisco soon grow around the world. Since Mr Fisher's death in 2009, the company has endured tougher times, as Forbes estimates the Fisher family lost $1bn in 2019

'We are thoughtfully moving through the consultation process with our European team, and we will provide support and transition assistance for our colleagues as we look to wind down stores.'

Gap is also considering reducing store numbers  in France and Italy.

For the year from February 1, 2020, Gap's UK retail sales fell by 9.5 per cent to £195.1million. Its operating losses were at £40.7million.

Earlier this month, Gap announced it plans to shut 19 shops in the UK and Ireland at the end of July.

It said the decision will leave it with around 50 other standalone and outlet stores, although the group said it is still assessing its portfolio as part of a strategic review it started last year.

Gap unveiled its first collaboration with Kanye West's Yeezy brand this month for his 44th birthday, only for it to sell out within a few hours 

Barack Obama visited a Gap store in Manhattan after the company increased its minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2014

In February reports revealed US retailer Gap was at war with its landlords after vowing to close stores in July.

Gap said it would permanently shutter one of its two Oxford Street shops in London last December. 

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has struggled in recent years and like most retailers saw store footfall slump during the pandemic.

Sarah Jessica Parker, pictured promoting the brand in 2004, was one of a host of famous faces to boost Gap's during its iconic adverts of the late 1990s and early 2000s

Last October global head Mark Breitbard used an investor meeting to announce a major restructuring which would shift the business strategy away from owning stores. 

He said: 'One of the options being explored is the possible closure of our company-operated Gap stores in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Italy at the end of the second quarter in 2021.'

Gap also said it will be closing 220 of its namesake Gap stores in US shopping malls - or one-third of its store base - by early 2024.  

That will result in 80 per cent of its remaining Gap stores being in off-mall locations.

At its height Gap was one of the most recognised brands in the world, with stores across the US, Europe and Asia.

Gap's stranglehold on the clothing market has loosened over the past 20 years, but it was once highly endorsed by celebrities, including Sharon Stone, who wore a $26 mock turtleneck from the store to the Academy Awards in 1996 

Its advertising campaigns in the late 1990s and early 2000s saw huge names such as Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker and Missy Elliott all appear in adverts for the clothing giant. 

Gap unveiled the first item in its highly anticipated collaboration with Kanye West on Tuesday. The San Francisco–based clothing retailer shared a striking baby blue jacket featuring no zipper to coincide with the rap superstar's 44th birthday. 

It comes just months after high street giant Debenhams confirmed the last of its stores would close for the final time.

The department store launched a post-lockdown fire sale before the chain shuttered its stores, marking the end of a 242-year presence in Britain's towns and cities.

The number of UK workers on payrolls dropped by 56,000 last month and has fallen by 813,000 since March 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics

The unemployment rate dropped slightly in the latest figures, but the overall picture was still grim as the furlough scheme keeps jobs on life support

It collapsed at the end of last year, with the closure of all its stores confirmed after Boohoo agreed to only buy its website and brand in a £55 million rescue deal.  

It came in the same week as Topshop owner Arcadia, with the two failures putting around 23,000 people out of work.

The appalling toll of job losses was on a par with the collapse of Woolworths in 2008, which cost 25,000 jobs. 

The perilous state of the jobs market was underlined last month with figures showing unemployment dipping - but the recovery in payroll numbers stalling.  

The jobless rate fell to 4.9 per cent between December and February, down from 5 per cent in the previous three months. Economists had pencilled in a rise to 5.1 per cent.

The gravity-defying performance during the brutal third lockdown is thought to be down to the massive furlough scheme - with around five million posts being propped up by the government.

There were more glimmers of hope with evidence businesses have been gearing up for the easing of the restrictions, with tentative figures showing vacancies up nearly 16 per cent in March. 

However, in a warning sign that the crisis is far from over the number of workers on UK payrolls fell by 56,000 in March after three months of increases. 

Overall there were 813,000 fewer workers on payrolls than in March 2020 - and four fifths of the reduction was among under-35s.

How a couple's search for jeans that fit grew into an international giant - only to fall as shoppers moved online 

Gap's story began with San Francisco couple Donald and Doris Fisher's quest to make it easier for shoppers to find a pair of jeans that properly fit. 

Together they raised $63,000 and managed to open their first store on Ocean Avenue in 1969, choosing their name from the perceived generation gap at the time.

The store only sold Levi's jeans and record tapes, but its popularity grew so quickly that it opened a second store the following year. By 1972 it had 25 locations across the US. 

Through the 1970s it started to launch its own brands of clothes as it became a dominant force in the US clothing market. In 1976 it went public with an initial offering of 1.2 million shares of stock at $18 per share.

In 1982 it purchased Banana Republic and opened its first Gap Kids store in 1986.

Having opened their first store in 1969, Gap quickly grew to have 25 locations across the US by 1972, opening its first London store in 1987

After nearly 20 years of growth in America, the clothing giant decided to cross the pond in 1987 and opened its first store outside the States in London.

Four years later it dropped Levi's jeans, and a year later supermodels posed on the cover of Vogue Magazine's 100th anniversary issue wearing Gap-brand jeans and woven shirts. 

By 1995 the brand was opening stores around the world, as a Gap and Gap Kids opened in Tokyo, Japan.

The 1990s boom was overseen by Millard 'Mickey' Drexler as CEO, and saw the company open its Old Navy brand, which offered lower-priced clothes for customers.

After 29 months of slumping sales, Mr Drexler stepped down as CEO in 2002. 

A year later the Old Navy brand went international, and in 2003 Madonna and Missy Elliott starred in a advert for Gap's autumn designs.

Madonna and Missy Elliott famously appeared in a commercial for Gap in 2004, as part the giant's adverting success in the late 90s and early 2000s

The late 90s and early noughties saw many famous faces appear in advertising campaigns for the retailer, including Sarah Jessica-Parker in 2004. 

After 35 years of service co-founder Donald Fisher stepped down as chairman of the Board in 2004, continuing to sit on the board of Directors with the title Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2009.

In 2006, Gap was among the retailers implicated in a series of labour rights protests after allegations surfaced of poor working conditions in overseas factories.

The allegations came during the same year that it launched doomed online retailer PaperLime, which was shut in 2015.

Barack Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage was backed by Gap in 2014, but the company has struggled to bring in customers since then

The following year it closed its Forth and Towne venture, the store for women over 40 was closed down after just 18 months. 

During the 2000s Gap Inc saw Banana Republic go international with a store in Japan, while it also acquired Athleta, a women’s activewear catalogue company. 

Over the last 10 years it has focused primarily on acquisitions, picking up luxury brand US brand Intermix in 2013.

Barack Obama paid a visit to one of its US stores in 2014 as the company became the first major US retailer to change its starting minimum hourly wage from $9 (£6.87) in 2014 to $10 (£7.63) in 2015.

On its 50th anniversary Gap's announced its CEO Art Peck would be stepping down from the company, no reason was given. 

According to Forbes, the Fisher family lost $1bn in 2019.