Santa Monica’s iconic Gap store to be torn down, replaced with homes

Southern California’s very first Gap store is packing up its khaki trousers and denim jackets for good soon, swapping out retail history for high-density apartments.

The historic storefront on Wilshire Boulevard and 20th Street in Santa Monica is set to close July 23, after several decades of operation.

“Gap has been proud to be part of the community in Santa Monica for more than 50 years, but as our lease comes to an end this summer, we will be closing this location with deep gratitude to the customers, employees and neighbors who have made it so special over the decades,” a Gap spokesperson told The California Post.

The company is helping its employees there explore opportunities at nearby Gap stores.

The closure marks the latest in a slew of heart-wrenching closures for Santa Monica, after The Misfit bar closed, a comic recently made fun of all the vacant stores on the struggling Third Street Promenade and the Britannia Pub closed to make way for a Taco Bell.

The property will not stay empty for long, though. The space will soon be replaced with a mixed-use development featuring 260 apartments — 26 of which will designated affordable housing units. Developer Cypress Equity Investments is set to demolish the property to make way for a modern, eight-story mixed-use complex. It is expected to be built above roughly 21,500 square feet of fresh ground-floor commercial space.

Over its five decades, the Gap location has seen tons of celebrity shoppers, served as a backdrop for a classic Weird Al Yankovic music video shoot, and even acted as an emergency supply hub for first responders during the 2025 wildfires.

“Worked there in the ’80s and Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn came in to buy jeans,” one former employee recalled on Reddit.

The announcement sparked an emotional response online, with many locals mourning the end of an easily accessible clothing store.

“The last convenient clothing store in Santa Monica,” one lamented.

“I love it because I hate having to go into a mall these days,” another commented. “Century city doesn’t have a gap and the grove is far and costs so much to park.”

Another shopper wrote that they had bought clothes there as a toddler, and later returned to buy outfits for their own son decades later.

For now, locals have just a few more weeks to make one last trip to the iconic retailer before it becomes housing.

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