AUBURN – The Gap will be leaving the Auburn Mall later this month, the apparent victim of a corporate marketing strategy that’s emphasizing its sister store, Old Navy.

The mall’s Gap store is scheduled to close April 25. Acting store manager Laurie Bouyea said sales at the Auburn location have been moderate for the hip retailer.

“It is a shame,” said Bouyea of the store’s impending closure. She referred all other press inquiries to Gap Inc.’s corporate headquarters.

The Gap is the third large clothing retailer to leave the mall, following Porteous in 2002 and Express in 2003. It has sales in excess of $15.9 billion worldwide.

In a November 2003 interview, Gap Inc. spokeswoman Jordan Benjamin said the company was planning to close about 125 stores nationally, most of which were Gap stores, while expanding its Old Navy locations. Gap Inc. also owns Banana Republic.

At the time, Benjamin said Gap Inc. looks at an entire market area to determine whether the three brands complement each other and generate sufficient financial returns for each store. The company decided to slow its pace of opening new stores and look at “how we can massage the existing base without going into new markets and not opening new stores.”

Bouyea said the 15 Gap employees at the mall have been offered positions with other corporate stores in Maine. There are 11 Gap Inc. stores in Maine, and more than 3,400 throughout the United States.

Augusta, Bangor and South Portland have Gap stores while Freeport and Kittery have Gap outlet stores and Banana Republic. Augusta and Portland have Old Navy stores.

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