JUMP REPORT

The insiders can send powerful signals when they use their own cash to buy more shares of their company stock.

Columbia Sportswear’s third-quarter 2020 results might have been hurt by the adverse impacts of coronavirus pandemic.

More bad news for the beleaguered brick-and-mortar crowd as Gap (NYSE: GPS) announces plans to close 350 Gap and Banana Republic stores, including about 225 in the next year. Why it matters: Wall Street loved the news, driving up the company’s stock, but retail REITs, and those who own them, may not feel the same about the coming gap in those portfolios if these stores are currently their tenants. Why it matters: This GlobeSt.com piece focuses on the Los Angeles market, but I know of at least two such conversions here in little Columbia, South Carolina and can imagine it might look like an attractive repurposing elsewhere.

Gap Inc. (GPS) the largest apparel company in the U.S., used its 2020 investor day to lay out a strategy for growth, a plan that will rely heavily on Gap and Banana Republic store closures and the Athleta brand. Now the company says it will close 350 Gap and Banana Republic stores in North America between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2023. Many of the closures will come as leases expire, and the company will use the closures to move away from malls, many of which had been struggling even before the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nike retailing model has shown itself again as The Gap announced Thursday that it will close underperforming stores, focus on the digital-first economy and exit its mall locations. Stressing that it is “North America’s largest retailer,” the company told a virtual media and analyst event that it will be closing 220 of its namesake […]