.bananarepublic

Status:	Proposed
Registry Provider:	Neustar
Type:	Brand TLD
Priority #:	904 - The Gap, Inc.
More information:

.bananarepublic is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is The Gap, Inc.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"The Gap, Inc. (“Gap Inc.”) is a leading global retailer serving the needs of consumers around the world through its five brands – Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Piperlime. Gap Inc. has 134,000 employees and stores or franchises in 31 different countries. Gap Inc.’s products are available for purchase online to consumers in over 90 countries, and Gap Inc. content is accessible in the .COM gTLD and the .CA, .CN, .EU, and .JP ccTLDs.

Through a unified corporate approach, Gap Inc. intends to submit five gTLD applications for the strings .GAP, .BANANAREPUBLIC, .OLDNAVY, .ATHLETA, and .PIPERLIME, collectively the Gap Inc. Family of gTLDs.

Gap Inc.’s brands are among the company’s most valuable assets. The protection and growth of the Banana Republic brand is of paramount importance to Gap Inc. in all aspects of its operations, including on the Internet. Operating the brand as a gTLD is expected to be an important part of its digital strategy in the future.

Gap Inc. will be analyzing and evaluating other .BRAND gTLD applications as well as general market adoption to determine short- and long-term potential best-in-class use case options to most effectively serve and enhance Gap Inc.’s online strategy as a leading global retailer. With regard to the Banana Republic brand, Gap Inc. maintains operations in the following segments:

RETAIL STORES: Acquired by Gap Inc. in 1983, Banana Republic has evolved from its early days as a safari and travel clothing company into a modern, accessible luxury brand offering fashionable collections of casual and tailored apparel, shoes, jewelry, handbags, accessories, and personal care products for men and women. Banana Republic operates stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Italy.

OUTLET STORES: Gap Inc. also operates Banana Republic Factory Stores, which carry similar products at lower price points.

BANANA REPUBLIC ONLINE: In 1999, Gap Inc. introduced Banana Republic Online, an online store found at BananaRepublic.com, which offers products comparable to those carried in the store collections, as well as extended sizes not found in stores. Since 2010, customers in Canada have been able to shop online at BananaRepublic.ca. Customers in the United Kingdom and select European countries can shop online at BananaRepublic.eu, and customers in select international countries can shop online at BananaRepublic.com.

The intended future mission and purpose of the .BANANAREPUBLIC gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace provided by Gap Inc., its subsidiaries, partners, and affiliates, for Banana Republic brand customers and other consumers. Gap Inc. will be the entity to file this application and bring the .BANANAREPUBLIC gTLD to market.

Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD specification in the current round, it is widely anticipated in the brand community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. .BANANAREPUBLIC is intended to be one of those .BRAND gTLDs, with the goal of protecting Gap Inc.’s online presence and identity, expanding its marketing and promotion efforts, providing a secure channel for online products and services, and offering a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of Gap Inc.

Gap Inc. intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .BANANAREPUBLIC gTLD to Gap Inc., its subsidiaries and qualified affiliates and strategic partners. This initial limited use will allow Gap Inc. to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability.

After year three, Gap Inc. will evaluate whether opportunities exist to carry out the business strategy for the gTLD through expansion that continues the sustainable operations of the registry through fee-based registrations to parties other than Gap Inc., its subsidiaries, affiliates, and partners."