What Happened When Banana Republic Went Trendy

When you close your eyes and think of Banana Republic, what do you see? Brand president Andi Owen hopes you see tailored pants, sweaters that fit just right, and classic outerwear that brings the whole outfit together. These are Banana’s bread-and-butter products, but if you’ve walked into a Banana Republic anytime in the past year, you’re more likely to have found denim culottes, floral rompers, drop-waist dresses, and a sales rack stuffed to the brim.

A year and a half ago, Banana Republic was chugging along. It had just posted $2.4 billion in net sales in the US in fiscal 2014, the highest sales numbers recorded in a decade. It wasn’t a meteoric rise by any stretch; Banana had slowly but surely been clawing its way out of the depths of the recession, where, at its lowest point in 2009, it brought in just over $2 billion in sales in the US. Read more at Racked.