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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2000)
. aprii 7.2000 » a a tq -J nTÏTÏÏîTTmnews First Congregational United Church of Christ S hop T a lk How do some trendy clothing when it comes to queers? Check f simple, comfortable jeans and khakis fill one side of your closet and T-shirts are crammed into the other, there is a very good chance you are a customer of Gap Inc. For many, Gap is a first stop for clothes, but it does not stand alone. The smaller Abercrombie & Fitch Co. chain is part of Gap’s competition in both men’s and women’s clothing, as is The Limited— a company whose namesake store sells only women’s clothing while men’s apparel is sold under other names. In fact, there is more to both Gap and The Limited than many know; a variety of other chains hide behind their names. But how well do these three companies do on gay and lesbian issues? Avoid letting anyone else pull the wool or the “100 percent preshrunk cotton” over your eyes— get the truth I 1126 SW PARK AVENUE 228-7219 Mozart’s Requiem Sunday, April 9, 10:25 a.m. with orchestra and soloists Palm Sunday and gay men and lesbians are represented there. eslie Wexner opened The Limited’s first store in 1963 at Columbus, Ohio’s Kings- dale Center. The company now has more than 5,600 stores and 13 retail businesses. In addition to Limited stores, the company operates Express, Lemer New York, Lane Bryant, Henri Bendel, Structure, Limited Too and Galyan’s Trading Company. The Limited also owns more than 80 percent of Intimate Brands, the company that operates roughly 2,000 Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works shops. Wexner is the chief execu tive officer of both companies. Sales at The Limited, like at Gap, exceed $9 billion per year. Intimate Brands sales reach almost $4 billion per year. Despite repeated calls over several weeks, Limited representatives never provided full answers to questions for this article. One important detail is known, however— domes tic partner benefits are offered. L T he unique name is more than a century old, but the company is brand new. Now focusing on casual clothing, the Abercrombie Republic clothes in a recent issue of Out & Fitch of old focused on sporting goods. The current chain, much smaller than Gap or The Limited, is the result of the 1998 spinoff n 1969 the first Gap store opened on Ocean by The Limited of its 84 percent stake in the Avenue in San Francisco. company. The chain targets college students Founders Don and Doris Fisher, who still with its 180 or so stores. Its yearly sales barely own about a quarter of the company, offered the exceed the $800 million mark. store’s customers jeans and records. The chain While the company has a nondiscrimination now operates 2,400 stores under several names policy that includes sexual orientation, domes in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, tic partner benefits are not offered. But that Japan and the United Kingdom. could change. It is no surprise that Gap also runs chains “We’re only a year old as an independent with names like GapKids and BabyGap, hut some may he surprised that Banana Republic • company,” says spokesman Lonnie Fogel. Abercrombie & Fitch has no gay and lesbian and Old Navy Clothing Co. are also part of employee group, but it does include a discussion Gap. (The company is also testing a delivery of gay and lesbian issues in its diversity training. concept and an intimate apparel shop.) Togeth And the company has done some marketing er, the chains snag more than $9 billion in sales to gay men and lesbians through ads in Out per year. magazine. The company has offered domestic partner If one were to judge merely by the shirtless, benefits since July 1995, says spokeswoman all-American male models— linked arm-in-arm Debbie Gardner. and smiling invitingly toward the camera— in ‘‘The reason we thought it was important is the company’s ads, one might mistakenly that we felt until that point our gay and lesbian assume its marketing is exclusively geared employees had not been able to participate fully toward gay men. in our benefits program because it limited the “The brand has quite a cachet in the gay definition of dependent,” she says. community,” Fogel concedes. The company includes sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy and discusses gay ■ GlP PLASTER writes far dozens o f gay and lesbian and lesbian issues in its diversity training. newspapers and magazines. He also maintains a list While there is no official gay and lesbian o f queer publications at w ww.gayscnbe.com . He employee group, the company has “one diversi lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with his partner, David. ty resource group for all issues, Gardner says, I April 16, 10:20 a.m. Procession from the park and dramatic retelling o f the Passion Passover Seder Thursday, April 20, 6 p.m. Reservations required Easter Sunday April 23, 10:25 a.m. with trumpets and special music Rev. Patricia Ross preaching An open and affirming church in the liberal Christian tradition MILGARD R eplacement W indows Now we can replace your old wood, aluminum or steel windows with Milgard vinyl replacement windows. Made in Oregon for Oregon weather. Lifetime warranty with local service direct from the factory means you won ’t ever regret your decision to buy the best. 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