It sounds like a move made out of desperation. But personally I don't see them surviving the online marketplace long-term. At least in a mall your competition is limited to the local stores. Online, it's everyone. Want to offer cheap clothing? You are competing with everyone from H&M to Amazon Essentials (https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/F8FB6F3C-F896-455C-BC52-7...). Want to offer slightly better quality at slightly higher prices? Congratulations, you're now going to face off against Uniqlo (https://www.uniqlo.com). Want to go higher? Then you need quality and brand power, which are hard to recover once you go for cheaper fast fashion the way Gap has. I struggle to identify a competitive advantage for Gap.