Gap (clothing retailer)
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- For other uses, see Gap.
| Gap, Inc. | |
 |
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| Type of Company | Public (NYSE: GPS) |
|---|---|
| Founded | San Francisco, California, 1969 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Key people | Founded by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher Paul Pressler, President & CEO Byron H. Pollitt, Jr., EVP & CFO Cynthia Harriss, President, Gap |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Apparel |
| Revenue |  $16 billion USD (2005) |
| Employees | 152,000 (all Gap) |
Gap is a San Francisco-based apparel and accessories retailer founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. The Fishers opened their first shop because they had been frustrated with the lack of decent customer service and fashionable styles at other retailers. The name was derived from the growing differences between children and adults--namely "the generation gap"--which reached its peak with the hippie movement. Some of the original mottos of the company were "Levi's for Guys and Gals", and "Fall Into The Gap". Around 1982, Gap began focusing on its own private label, and by 1991–1992 the company had stopped carrying Levi's and other brands altogether. [1] As of October 2006, Gap Inc. had approximately 150,000 employees and operated 3,005 stores worldwide in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, Ireland, Singapore and Malaysia.
Donald Fisher retired as Chairman of the Board in 2004 and was replaced by his son, Robert Fisher. The Fisher family collectively owns about 25% of the company. The current CEO of Gap is Paul Pressler, who previously ran the Disney theme parks.
Banana Republic, formerly a catalog retailer selling safari themed clothing, was purchased by the company in 1983, and eventually was rebranded as an upscale clothing retailer. Old Navy was launched in 1994, as a value chain with a specialty flair.
In December of 1995, Gap became the first major North American retailer to accept independent monitoring of the working conditions in a contract factory producing its garments. This acceptance came after an international campaign of media criticism and consumer pressure that was organized in Canada by the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Ontario District Council of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). In the United States the campaign was coordinated by the National Labor Committee.
In 2004, Gap sold all of its German operations to the Swedish H&M, its main competitor in Europe.
In some Major League Baseball parks, a Gap ad appears on outfield wall panels between left/right-center fields and centerfield, which is commonly termed "the gap".
In September 2004, Gap announced the launch of a new chain called Forth & Towne; its first location opened on August 24, 2005, in the Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York. The chain's selection will be targeted at women 35 and older. [1]
In November 2006, speculation rolled around as the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Sears may buy Safeway, RadioShack, Manny Moe & Jack, Home Depot, Gap and Anheuser Busch. [2]
Contents |
[edit] Gap Inc Brands
- Gap
- Gap Outlet
- GapKids
- babyGap
- GapBody
- GapMaternity
- Love (Gap Accessories)
- Old Navy
- Old Navy Outlet
- Banana Republic
- Banana Republic Factory Store
- Forth & Towne
- Piperlime
- Brands (discontinued)
- Hemisphere (discontinued)
- Foxtails (discontinued)
- Fashion Pioneers (discontinued)
- Pants %Off (discontinued)
- Pottery Barn (sold to Williams-Sonoma)
- SuperGap (discontinued)
- Tags (discontinued)
- You & You (discontinued)
[edit] (Product) Red Support
Gap is taking part in the Product Red campaign. As a result, Gap released in spring 2006 a special RED collection, including a t-shirt manufactured in Lesotho from African cotton. The expanded Gap Product Red collection was released October 13, 2006. A percentage of the profits will go to the Global Fund.
Other launch partners include American Express, Apple Computer, Converse, Emporio Armani and Motorola.
[edit] Celebrities in Gap Ad Campaigns
Gap is well known for featuring celebrities in its print and television advertisements, including:
[edit] Control over the word 'Gap'
In an apparent effort to control the use of the word 'Gap', the company threatened litigation against Bootleg Gap, a golf course in Kimberley, British Columbia named after an opening in the nearby Bootleg Mountain. After three years of expensive negotiations, and without the funds to defend itself in court, the golf course agreed to remove the word 'Gap' from its restaurant and nine holes. It also renamed its whole clothing line to 'Bootleg Golf.' The legal costs from the negotiations delayed landscaping and cart paving projects for the golf course.[2]
