We shopped at Old Navy and H&M to see which was a better store for cheap basics, and there was a clear winner

• Old Navy and H&M are both known for carrying inexpensive basics.
• Old Navy has become a secret weapon for Gap. 
• But H&M is struggling, seeing operating profit drop a whopping 62% in the first quarter of 2018. In June, it reported flat sales growth for the second straight quarter.
• During recent visits, we found that both stores seemed to have similar issues, from varying quality to unfashionable clothes, but one store had a clear advantage over the other. 

Old Navy and H&M have become go-to stores for inexpensive basics like t-shirts and sundresses. 

Old Navy has become a secret weapon for Gap Inc., seeing sales growth of 3% in its most recent fiscal quarter. In late 2017, Gap announced it would be shifting its focus away from its namesake brand and Banana Republic in favor of the Old Navy and Athleta brands. 

H&M, a competitor of Old Navy, has had its fair share of struggles lately. In the first quarter of 2018, operating profit at H&M decreased 62%. In June, it reported flat sales growth for the second straight quarter. Business Insider’s Mary Hanbury reported that analysts believe H&M has a brand issue because it’s not the cheapest store, and its clothes are not the best quality nor the most fashionable.

When we visited both Old Navy and H&M, we found this statement to hold true for both stores — while both had a lot of great deals, they both still had a few overpriced outliers. The quality varied from product to product, and the styles were hit or miss. 

However, we found that one store was a much nicer environment to shop in and had a bigger selection of everything from clothes to accessories. See what it was like shopping at each: