Business & Tech
Gap Execs Break Silence on Southport Piperlime Rumors
Gossip has been hot on Southport regarding whether the retailer planned to sell its exclusive online collection at its new store. Now officials finally address the rumors.
After five months of rumors, Gap officials report their new Lake View store will not carry the company’s exclusive brand Piperlime.
The new two-story building is currently under construction at the former Ann Sather site at 3461 N. Southport Ave. But according to Gap Inc. representative Liz Nunan, there’s no truth to the Lake View gossip.
“I can confirm that the Gap store will be opening this fall,” Nunan told Patch. “It will not carry Piperlime.”
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The news comes after Patch broke the story that the clothing retailer planned to build a 10,000-square-foot flagship store on the popular shopping corridor.
At that time, a source close to the project—who asked to remain anonymous—said the store was also rumored to feature Gap’s brand Piperlime, a boutique formerly only sold online.
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Piperlime first launched in 2006, and according to the source, there are only two other brick-and-mortar stores for Piperlime in the nation, located in Manhattan.
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Joe Padorr of Seneca Real Estate Advisors facilitated the deal to bring Gap to Lake View’s Southport corridor, just as he did for Gap’s other brand Athleta. He says the demand for retail space on Southport is booming.
“The recent activity over the last year or so with regard to the Athleta and Noodles has kind of created an interest, a resurgence in retail on Southport,” Padorr said in December. “It’s really created quite a demand as well as a lack of inventory. So those two have a tendency to affect pricing, and therefore, we’ve seen some decent increases in retail square foot cots.”
The skyrocketing cost in square foot is responsible for a number of small businesses on Southport to move, including Lakeview Physical Therapy and Bell Studio. The owher of children’s clothing retailer Little Feet is also relocating her store to Michigan, she revealed.
Demolition began Nov. 9 at the former Ann Sather building. Construction at the new Gap is well under way.
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