Two brands, one look?

Big and bold is the mantra of the season.  If you stroll your way through The Gap or Banana as of late, it seems to me it's getting harder and harder to tell where you are, even when you're there.  Sure, these brands live under the same big brand house, but is the sameness we're seeing from the big-box retailers a result of this life?  Or is it simply the latest trend?  Or should we liken this change to a retailer "update" that we're sure to see from others as the year progresses?  

I can't help it think about how this new wave of retail change parallels the 90's logo "swoosh" change that swept across the nation and then permeated its way down to the smallest of new businesses - whereby it seems quite commonplace yet today for a logo design to carry some element of a small swoosh, an elipse, a curve, or sphere.  In the end, they've all become a part of a design cycle that together consumers accepted as the symbolistic representation of businesses and all that they promise to deliver.  I can't help but wonder if we're beginning to see the same such sweep across the retail nation.  Guess I'll keep watching...