They lost homes and survived floodwaters, escaping in some cases with barely the shirts on their backs.

But Gulf Coast residents who still have money to spend after Hurricane Katrina will get a deal – of sorts – if they can get to one of Gap Inc.’s stores by Oct. 31.

The San Francisco-based company said last week that it would cut 15 percent off the price of all its merchandise for shoppers from Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi. And the parent of 3,000 Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores isn’t the only one making such an offer.

Retailers throughout the industry are reaching out to the victims of America’s latest disaster. The companies are giving cash to relief efforts, funneling supplies to those in need and offering discounts to survivors who shop in their stores – all while aiding the retailers’ own displaced employees.

As they juggle all this, businesses must avoid the appearance of trying to benefit from a tragedy, retail and marketing experts say.

Should they shoot off news releases when they make contributions? Or should they give quietly, without calling attention to themselves, even as competitors trumpet their own generosity? And how much should they give?

The subtleties of public relations play a key role in making such decisions, said Kay Palan, associate professor of marketing at Iowa State University.

“There’s a fine balance” between giving in a visible way and not appearing to take advantage of a crisis, she said. “If you’re a major corporation and the public doesn’t see you step forward to do something in this kind of disaster, it has the potential to negatively affect the image and reputation of that company.”

A Wal-Mart distribution center in Brookhaven, Miss., has been moving supplies for the Katrina relief effort. Wal-Mart's response to Katrina - 7 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers - has turned the chain into an unexpected lifeline for much of the Southeast and earned it praise at a time when the company is struggling to burnish its image.

If consumers believe that a business is giving in the right spirit, that can buff a company’s image and even win it new customers, marketing experts say. But if they are suspicious of the motives, or think there is little value in what is being offered, the effort can backfire.

Profiteering sensitivity

H. Shanker Krishnan, professor of marketing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, said customers were sensitive to any hint of profiteering.

“Obviously, companies are trying to make money,” he said, “but at the same time … if the discount is so small, people see through that.”

Krishnan and some other observers were underwhelmed by the price cut Gap offered. Retailers generally can slice as much as 60 percent – sometimes more, depending on who makes the clothes – from the price of a garment and still make a profit, analysts say.

“They’re giving only a 15 percent discount?” asked Jeffrey Van Sinderen, an analyst with B. Riley & Co. in Los Angeles.

Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Assn. in Los Angeles, said Gap’s offer did not warrant a news release, adding: “I’m not impressed.”

Even before the hurricane hit, the second half of the year looked cloudy for many retailers, who were lowering their profit forecasts as they worried about rising gasoline prices. Katrina has compounded the uncertainty.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, retailers got help from President Bush, who encouraged Americans to shop in the interest of patriotism. But after Katrina whipped through Southern states, the president offered this admonition: “Don’t buy gas if you don’t need it.” That could make it a little tricky to get to a shopping center.

Dealing with disaster

Since the 2001 attacks, however, retailers have become more adept at dealing with disasters, said Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, a trade group. And they have moved quickly to respond to the current crisis.

Many have issued statements saying how much they planned to give or announcing discounts aimed at Gulf Coast residents.

San Diego-based Charlotte Russe Holding Inc. said its namesake chain and Rampage stores in Southern states would slash 40 percent from purchases for shoppers who could prove they were residents of Louisiana or Mississippi.

Macy’s and Robinsons-May ran full-page newspaper ads last week telling customers that if they added a dollar or more for hurricane relief to any purchase, parent Federated Department Stores Inc. would match the donations up to a total of $1 million.

Gap spokeswoman Kris Marubio declined to comment on how it determined how much to discount its merchandise. But she said the company also planned to give away apparel, working with a nonprofit distributor, and to donate $1 million to disaster relief through its Gap Foundation.

For employees who worked in stores where business was disrupted, the company will give four weeks’ pay and find new positions where they can work, Marubio said, in addition to supplying clothes and housing assistance. Gap has about 1,300 employees in areas affected by the hurricane, she said; 22 of its stores remained closed Friday.

Other companies offering discounts also are contributing in other ways.

Wal-Mart response

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, with sales of $285 billion last year, began its hurricane response efforts while Katrina was still classified as a tropical storm. Workers at the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer’s emergency operations center shipped water, batteries, tents, tarps and canned tuna to stores that were likely to be affected.

When Katrina hit, store manager Ray Mathews spent the night at his Wal-Mart Supercenter in Columbia, Miss., while 150-mph winds knocked down power lines, battered the building and kicked out the skylights, allowing water to pour into the store.

“It looked like a bomb went off here,” he said. “Trees were flattened all around us. It totally changed the landscape.”

But he didn’t have to wait long for help. Wal-Mart’s emergency team appeared the next day and began mopping the floor, wiping down counters and repairing the roof, he said.

“I thought I was going to have to round up people to clean it all up,” he said. “I’ve been with the company 19 years, and I’ve never seen something that worked so smoothly.”

By Sept. 3, five days after the hurricane landed, Wal-Mart had set up its first donation center, at the Astrodome in Houston, to give away diapers, toothbrushes, clothes and other basics. As of Friday, the retailer said, it had donated $17 million in cash and more than $3 million in merchandise.