Gap Inc. Acquires Intermix for $130M

Gap Inc. has acquired retailer Intermix for $130 million in cash. Last month we reported that the two companies were in talks for a collaboration. The official deal closed on December 31 and expands Gap's presence in the luxury retail market.

Intermix's senior team of Khajak Keledjian, cofounder and chief executive officer, and Adrienne Lazarus, president, will continue to run the business from New York. Keledjian moves over to the role of chief creative officer. Both will now report to Art Peck, president of Gap's Growth, Innovation & Digital division.

"Intermix has a distinctive position in this growing market with clear competitive advantage," said Murphy. "Their record of merchandising with a keen eye towards mixing multiple designer labels, complemented with exclusive product, is appealing to their loyal customers. This strategy reflects the strength of their brand vision and leadership team."

Keledjian expressed pleasure at the deal, adding Intermix has "found a partner that has the global scale and infrastructure required to support our vision for growth."

As the company transitions, the main focus will be prioritizing.

"Our [immediate] priority is growing the [core] business, increasing comp sales and adding new stores. There are a lot of opportunities out there, but we really have to first prioritize over the short term," Keledjian said, noting that international expansion and Private label are really longer-term goals.

Intermix works with more than 220 contemporary apparel and accessories brands, although not all are represented in each store. Some of those brands include Rag & Bone; A.L.C. by Andrea Lieberman; Helmut Lang; Mason by Michelle Mason; Mulberry; 3.1 Phillip Lim; Yigal Azrouël; Proenza Schouler; Stella McCartney; Jimmy Choo, and Azzedine Alaïa. About 30 percent of the merchandise in the stores is exclusive.

Gap's ability to support and provide scale for a growing business was a strong selling point for Intermix, Keledjian said.

"We're always looking for new brands. In partnering with Gap, that will enable us to have more time to focus on growth. One reason for our success is [being] an incubator for new designers and new talent. [Partnering with Gap] will let us focus more on product, merchandising and innovation," Keledjian said.

The partnership should be mutually beneficial. Intermix can use Gap's global reach to grow their own retail and e-tail presence, while Gap can benefit from Intermix's expertise in the contemporary luxury market. But most exciting: Gap also intends to help amp up Intermix's web site with some innovative improvements.

"We have an omnichannel strategy that we're putting in place where we bring the Web and the store experience together," a Gap exec told WWD. "Some of our Web orders are shipped from the stores. Customers can find an item on the Web and search for it in stores around [them] to find where it is available. The natural progression is to buy it online or reserve it in the store, and then go and pick it up."