Gap - clothing and accessories

About Us
Web Site Summary
URL: www.gap.com
Year Launched: 1997
Category: Clothing
Merchant Type: retail
Ranking: 24
Description from Quantcast: Shop for men's, women's, kids, and baby clothes.

Type: 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)
Website: www.gap.com

Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. The name came from the growing differences between children and adults, called "the generation gap", which reached its peak with the hippie movement (that Gap is an acronym for "Gay And Proud" is an urban myth). The Fishers had been frustrated with the lack of decent customer service and fashionable styles at other retailers. 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 clothing and by 1991–1992, the company had stopped carrying Levi's. As of April 2, 2005, Gap Inc. had approximately 150,000 employees and operated 3,005 stores worldwide.

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 older than 35.

Specialty Gap Shops

babyGap.com
GapKids
gapbody.com
GapKids
GapMaternity - Clothes
GapAccessories
The Gap Warehouse (forerunner to Old Navy, which opened in 1994)
GapMen
SuperGap
Old Navy
Banana Republic
Forth and Towne
Banana Republic Factory Store
Old Navy Outlet

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