Banana Republic Donates $20 Million in Clothing to Americans in Need

Banana Republic has announced it will be donating more than $20 million of new clothing to those in need, including millions of unemployed Americans. This program is a partnership with Delivering Goods, which is a nonprofit organization that unites retailers, manufacturers, foundations, and individuals to support Americans affected by poverty and tragedy.
 
"During this unique moment in history, it's more necessary than ever to work together to support one another, especially those in need," said Mark Breitbard, Head of Banana Republic and Gap Inc. specialty brands, in a Banana Republic press release. "As America faces historic unemployment rates, Banana Republic Will Work for a Better Republic, helping Americans get back to work by providing confidence through clothing they can wear for interviews and in different work environments, including working from home."
 
The brand is donating clothes to many partner organizations in states affected most by the pandemic, such as Hour Working Women Program in New York, Central City Neighborhood Partners in Los Angeles, Family Focus Englewood in Chicago, and more.
 
"By supporting Delivering Good, Banana Republic is helping men and women across the US, including those facing poverty, homelessness, and job loss," said Delivering Good President & CEO Lisa Gurwitch in the same news release. "Among our network of more than 700 community partners, we will focus this donation on nonprofits with workforce training and re-entry programs and markets that have been especially affected by the current crises. This donation will have such a positive impact on men, women, and disadvantaged young adults."
 
Banana Republic is also working to keep its employees and customers safe when at the store, and that includes multiple steps the brand is taking to get to that point. Those steps include:
 

  • Rigorous cleaning measures in each of the stores and hand sanitizer stations at front doors and cash wraps
  • Giving each employee high-quality, reusable face masks for them to wear during their shift and encouraging customers do the same while shopping
  • Installing plexiglass health guard partitions in front of cash registers and for mobile payment
  • Posting signs across each store reminding customers to follow social distancing guidelines while shopping and checking out
  • Opening with reduced hours and monitoring the flow of customers in stores
  • Closing restrooms temporarily
  • Making sure employees follow hygiene guidelines such as rigorous hand washing and monitor for COVID-19 before heading into work
 
"In working with industry partners and public officials to define Safe Shopping practices, we're eager to begin welcoming our teams and customers back to our stores, and confident in our ability to safely scale North America openings over the coming months in line with local guidelines," said Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc on the brand's website. "We continue to use this crisis as an opportunity at every turn. As we leverage our stores as distribution hubs, lean into the meaningful acceleration of our online business and play forward the learnings from our Asia business where all locations are now open, we believe we'll be well-positioned as this crisis subsides."
 

Recent Content

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing