Gap is closing its trendy men's athleticwear brand despite the continued boom in athleisure

• Gap is closing its trendy menswear brand Hill City less than two years after it launched.
• Gap Inc said in a statement it was closing Hill City to prioritize its resources for its larger brands – Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy.
• The apparel giant has struggled in recent years and been hard hit by the pandemic, which has kept its stores closed. It reported a 43% drop in net sales for the first three months of the year.

Gap is closing its trendy athleticwear brand Hill City less than two years after it launched.

The apparel giant said in a blog post on Thursday that it made the decision to close this business in order to dedicate its resources to its larger brands – Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy.

Hill City launched in the fall of 2018 and was primed to swoop in and capitalize on the continued boom in athletic wear, outdoorsy clothing, and more recently, men taking more of an interest in shopping.

Described as stylish high-performance wear, Hill City's clothing ranged from water-repellant everyday pants that cost $128 to insulated puffer jackets for $168.

At the time of its launch, former Gap Inc CEO Art Peck said that activewear was a key growth area for the company. "Hill City is our response to consistent feedback from customers looking for a premium men's product that combines highly technical fabrications, performance, and style," he said.

Hill City announced the news of its closure in a recent Instagram post, saying that Gap Inc had made "the difficult decision" to shut down the company.

"We are living in unprecedented times with unprecedented consequences, forcing us all to make and face tough calls," it said.

The brand will continue to restock its most popular styles and drop new items over the next few months as it winds down operations. All these items will be on sale.

Gap Inc has struggled in recent years and been hard hit by the pandemic, which has kept the majority of its stores closed. In the first three months of the year, net sales were down by 43%, it said.

The athleisurewear trend continues to be strong in the US and has benefited from people purchasing mostly comfortable clothing during the lockdown.

Gap Inc's CFO Katrina O'Connell said that its womenswear athletics brand has remained strong during this time and is still seeing "great performance."