Gap To Open Athleta Store at Fashion Island

An apparel company dedicated to dressing the active woman is slated to open a store at this summer.

Founded 12 years ago, Athleta was acquired by Gap Inc. in 2008 and caters to women between ages 30-50. The store will offer women’s fitness and lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories.

"Athleta’s mission is to inspire women to lead a more active and adventurous life and to deliver beautiful, high-quality, unique products," said Callie Canfield, spokeswoman for Athleta.

The Fashion Island location is part of Athleta’s national expansion and will "support Gap Inc. Direct’s goal of reaching $2 billion in revenue [doubling] no later than 2014," Canfield said.

Athleta recently opened a store in the San Francisco Bay Area and has found much success. Canfield said the company expects the same for the site in Newport Beach, which is said to have a good balance of traffic and customer demographics.  

"Because of our catalog business, we know that the area surrounding Fashion Island is a saturated customer markets for Athleta.  Having a store at Fashion Island will give our existing customers the opportunity to try on product from a brand they already love, as well as to expose new customers to Athleta," she said.

In 2009, Athleta became the fifth brand for Gap Inc. The others are Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime.