Gap to Open More Athleta Stores

San Francisco-based Gap Inc. plans to roll out eight to 10 Athleta stores this year, including the first two in Manhattan, reports Women’s Wear Daily. Fifty locations for the Gap’s activewear chain, which is based in Petaluma, Calif., are expected by 2013.

The two New York locations will open in August at Columbus Avenue and 70th Street and Third Avenue between 85th and 86th streets.

Additional units are also planned for Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and Philadelphia by the end of the year. California’s Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif., and The Grove in Los Angeles will also see Athleta stores, according to WWD.

After launching on the web, the first Athleta location opened in June 2010 in Mill Valley, outside San Francisco. A second shop followed in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood earlier this year.