The Gap responded to the protest with a press release stressing the company's concern over the lawsuit.

"We believe that once the litigation runs its course, the facts will show that Gap, Inc. is a company of which all of us--employees, shareholders, and customers alike--can be proud," the press release read.

As students chanted in front of the Gap, a sense of community seemed to spring up among the protestors.

One man offered passersby cups of free vegetarian soup from a large metal pot. Another passed out chunks of brown bread.

From the Gap, the demonstrators--carrying the pot of soup--moved across the street to gather outside Niketown.

At Nike, workers are paid as little as 16 cents an hour, the protesters said in signs they held as they stood outside the athletic store's doors.

According to a press release issued yesterday by Nike, the company says it has made steps over the past two years to improve its workplaces, including increasing the age requirement for all Nike workers to 18 years of age.