Gap Inc. plans to open around 800 stores by the end of the month

Stay-at-home mandates are beginning to end in several states, and Gap Inc. is ready to reopen many of its doors. By the end of May, the retail company hopes to open up to 800 stores across its portfolio of brands, which includes Old Navy, Athleta, Gap, Banana Republic, Janie and Jack and Intermix. A small selection of stores in Texas have already opened.

Gap noted in a blog post that its approach to reopening will balance taking time to put the right precautions in place with its need to put its teams back to 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,” Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal said in a statement.

The company has put new health and safety measures in place for its newly reopened stores. It will require store associates to wear face masks during their shifts and encourage customers to do the same. Gap also said that it is implementing rigorous cleaning routines, installing plexiglass health guard partitions in front of registers, limiting store hours and monitoring the flow of customers. The company will offer curbside pickup in 75 locations for a contactless experience, with the plan to expand the program in the coming months.

“We continue to use this crisis as an opportunity at every turn," Syngal continued. "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.”