40 Fun Facts About Old Navy

Old Navy got its name from a bar that Gap's president walked past in which city?

Paris gave the chain its name when Gap's boss spotted a bar called Old Navy on a walk. The stores had first opened in 1993 under the plainer banner Gap Warehouse.

Old Navy's first shops took their carts and checkout impulse buys from which kind of retailer?

Supermarkets were the deliberate model, right down to the flowing aisles. Concrete floors and metal shelving added a warehouse feel that set the chain apart from other discount clothiers.

Which reality TV star sued Old Navy in 2011, saying a commercial had used a look-alike of her?

Kim Kardashian filed a $20 million suit over an advert starring Melissa Molinaro. The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement the following year.

Old Navy bought a 30-second commercial during the 1998 series finale of which hit NBC sitcom?

Seinfeld's farewell cost advertisers $1.7 million per half-minute, more than that year's Super Bowl. Old Navy's spot, titled Woof, starred Joan Collins alongside the brand's dog.

Old Navy sparked a shopping frenzy in 2005 by pricing which summer footwear at one dollar a pair?

Flip-flops at a dollar a pair caused what the company itself calls a frenzy. The sandal even names a staff honour: employees who embody the Old Navy spirit win a Golden Flip Flop award.

Old Navy's 2009 ad campaign gave gossip-column back stories to a family of twelve custom-made what?

Mannequins nicknamed the SuperModelquins starred in the TV spots and stood in the stores. The campaign came from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the agency known for edgy Burger King adverts.

In 2023 Old Navy answered a long-running complaint by adding what to more of its women's dresses?

Pockets were the fix, after a survey cited by the brand found nearly three-quarters of women noticed how few womenswear offers. Old Navy named its goal pocket parity.

Old Navy made history in 1997 as the first retailer to reach which sales mark in under four years?

$1 billion had never come so fast for a retail chain. Old Navy ended 1997 with 282 stores and was already bringing in nearly a fifth of Gap's total revenue.

In 2020 Old Navy offered store employees eight hours of pay for a day spent in which civic role?

Poll worker pay was offered to some 50,000 staff in more than 1,000 US stores. The brand had joined a national drive to recruit 250,000 new election helpers that autumn.

Which Old Navy jeans style earned a Star of Recognition on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019?

Rockstar jeans, the brand's best-selling denim, were selling 40,000 pairs a day by then. Singing sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey turned out for the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard.

The first Old Navy store opened in 1994 in the small town of Colma, in which US state?

California is the brand's home turf, since parent company Gap is based in San Francisco. Two more branches, in San Leandro and Pittsburg, opened on the same March day.

Old Navy's first stores abroad opened in 2001, twelve of them on a single day, in which country?

Canada got all twelve at once, every one of them in Ontario. Britain had also been weighed for the chain's foreign debut, which distribution problems had held up.

Old Navy opened a flagship in 2017 with a daily 2am closing time in which New York location?

Times Square got the store at 44th and Broadway, side by side with a new Gap. Roughly three times as big as a normal branch, it faces the 450,000 or so people who pass through each day.

Old Navy's 2002 rugby shirt adverts copied the nine-box opening credits of which 1970s sitcom?

The Brady Bunch grid was rebuilt on a replica of the original set, with a look-alike family in striped shirts. Retro TV spoofs then became the brand's running gag for two years.

Old Navy's Bodequality launch of 2021 priced women's sizes 0 to 30 alike and ended which section?

Plus-size racks vanished as every women's style was merchandised together in more than 1,200 stores. Online, shoppers could pick which of three model builds displayed the clothes.

Gap, the owner of Old Navy, bought which two-store safari-themed clothing retailer in 1983?

Banana Republic began in Mill Valley in 1978 as a safari and travel store with a catalog. Gap remade it as an upscale chain, the opposite end of the family from bargain-minded Old Navy.

In a 2023 summer promotion, Old Navy treated road-tripping customers in five states to free what?

Gasoline was pumped free at five RaceTrac stations, beginning in Orlando. The brand pitched the giveaway as help for families put off holiday road trips by high fuel costs.

Old Navy turned its logo purple in 2019, the brand's 25th birthday year, ahead of which holiday?

Fourth of July went purple to show red and blue coming together. Exactly 1,994 purple Flag Tees went on sale, a nod to the year Old Navy was founded.

Old Navy's 'Superfan Nation' shops of 2011 stocked licensed fan gear for every team in which league?

NFL kit for every pro football team sat beside select college gear, tailored to each store's local favourites. Old Navy had only begun selling licensed sportswear in 2009.

In 2019 Gap Inc. announced a plan, abandoned within a year, to do what with Old Navy?

Spin it off as its own public company was the plan, with the sister brands grouped in a second firm. Gap blamed cost, complexity and softer trading when it dropped the idea in January 2020.

Old Navy was Gap's answer to a cheaper Gap-style chain planned by the owner of which retail giant?

Target's then owner, Dayton Hudson, had announced a chain called Everyday Hero, billed as a cheaper Gap. Gap's boss reasoned that its backers must know something his own firm didn't.

Which dog mascot of 1990s Old Navy adverts was the subject of a 2006 search for a successor?

Magic starred in more than 60 adverts between 1995 and 2001. The hunt for his successor drew over 120,000 entries, sifted by a celebrity panel that included Betty White.

Which veteran fashion editor in oversized glasses became the 'Old Navy Lady' of 1990s adverts?

Carrie Donovan appeared in 42 spots in her own black suit and pearls, never wearing the brand's clothes. She had been a fashion editor at Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine.

Which blonde star of 1980s television was a long-running pitchwoman in Old Navy's campy commercials?

Morgan Fairchild fronted the adverts from the 1990s into the 2000s, even playing the mum in a sitcom spoof. Old Navy made its commercials in-house and hired no outside agency until 2004.

Gap hired Stefan Larsson in 2012 to run Old Navy after nearly 15 years at which fast-fashion rival?

H&M had grown from 12 countries to 44 during his time there. At Old Navy he poached designers from Nike, Coach and Reebok to create exclusive lines.

Old Navy opened its first store outside North America in 2012 in which Asian city?

Tokyo's store opened in the DiverCity plaza in Odaiba, a popular tourist hub. Gap soon planned branches for Osaka and other cities, but in 2016 it announced it would shut every Japanese store.

Which American designer of red-carpet gowns was named Old Navy's chief creative officer in 2024?

Zac Posen took the Old Navy post together with the job of creative director for the whole Gap group. The role moved a designer famed for couture to a San Francisco base.

Which supermodel signed autographs at the 1994 opening of the first purpose-built Old Navy store?

Cindy Crawford's signing session came amid media interviews and merchandise giveaways at the shopping-centre launch. By the end of that first year the chain already had 59 branches.

Who performed when Old Navy opened its Manhattan flagship in 1995, a year after the chain launched?

The Rockettes helped launch the store in a year when the chain more than doubled, to 131 branches. Their turn is marked on Old Navy's official timeline.

Old Navy introduced a one-year 'kid-proof' money-back guarantee in 2023 on which kids' clothing?

School uniforms that fail to last the academic year earn a full refund under the pledge. Old Navy pointed to reinforced knees and secure stitching, and priced the basics at $15 and under.

Which Gap president dreamed up Old Navy in the early 1990s and later ran J.Crew?

Mickey Drexler took the idea from a trade-press article about a rival's plans, then sent assistants to buy $10 clothes at other chains to study. He led Gap until 2002.

Which Saturday Night Live star played an intern at Old Navy's head office in its 2023 comedy series?

Kenan Thompson, the sketch show's longest-serving cast member, led the six-episode Lil' Interns. His fellow interns were children, and real Old Navy employees played themselves.

Which star fronted four Old Navy commercials in the brand's 2020 'WE Holiday' campaign?

RuPaul's four spots plugged matching family pyjamas, face masks and curbside pickup during the first pandemic winter. Old Navy renamed the season the RuPaulidays.

Which women's activewear label, begun as a 1998 catalog company, became Old Navy's sister in 2008?

Athleta had no shops of its own until 2011, when the first opened on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. Gap later singled it out with Old Navy as its two growth brands.

Which industrial name did Gap's boss reject for his discount chain before settling on Old Navy?

Forklift was thrown out, as was Monorail. The shops had been trading as Gap Warehouse, but strong early sales convinced bosses the cheaper concept deserved an identity of its own.

Old Navy's first franchise-run stores opened in 2014 in which Asian country?

Philippines branches were run by Stores Specialists, Inc., which already operated Gap's other brands there. Manila went on to house one of the chain's flagship stores.

Which designer, once a host on MTV's House of Style, became Old Navy's creative director in 2007?

Todd Oldham called the job a step back into fashion after years designing furniture, hotel interiors and dorm furnishings. He also planned an Old Navy line under his own name.

Which executive, part of Old Navy's founding team, was its president from 1999 to 2006?

Jenny Ming was the one who phoned overseas factories to check that a cheaper line could be made at all. She later spent a decade as chief executive of Charlotte Russe.

In December 1995 Old Navy tried an experiment by opening what inside a San Francisco store?

A coffee shop was one of several early experiments as the chain raced past 100 branches. Another was a stand-alone Old Navy Kids store, opened in Colorado in 1997.

Old Navy's 1990s stores were early adopters in equipping customer service staff with which gadget?

Headsets joined attractive packaging and quirky promotions in a formula that made cheap clothes seem cool, even to shoppers who thought themselves too hip for Walmart.