Gap CEO Resigns
After a miserable holiday season and 4 years of crappiness, Gap CEO Paul Pressler resigned Monday. From the New York Times:
- Mr. Pressler, a former Disney executive, arrived at Gap four years ago with plans to cut costs and restore the chain's place in the retail firmament after years of sluggish sales.
But it quickly became clear that he could not turn the business around. At Gap, which is all but synonymous with casual clothing, sales have fallen every month for the past year, as Mr. Pressler and his team experimented with a dizzying number of fashions and store layouts.
During the holiday season, for example, Gap returned to the simple fashions that fueled the chain's meteoric rise in the 1990s. But sales at stores open at least a year fell 8 percent.
Gap's Chief Executive Resigns [New York Times]
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Comments:
"Former Disney executive" yeah, he's the guy that let Disneyland go to hell in a handbasket. Stopped doing routine maintenance and painting and all the little details that made the Disney experience while jacking prices and letting food quality drop.
No I don't miss him at Disneyland, since he's been gone quality is up and the selection of merchandise is AMAZING.
I hadn't been aware of where he'd landed...amusing to see that he was unable to keep the Gap from falling on its face either.
I've got two complaints against The Gap:
I'm not skinny enough.
If I can't tell which side of a store is the men's side quickly enough, I'll leave. Gap usually has that problem.
Seriously? Gap carries men's pants up to size 42, unless something has changed recently. It ain't Abercrombie, fools!
Pressler's biggest weakness, weirdly enough, was his affinity for customer data. Chasing after every random customer-stated preference confused the masses and alienated millions.
I'm thinking this means we should stay tuned for major changes at Gap Inc very, very soon. With Pressler gone and Old Navy prez Jenny Ming already out the door, anything could happen.
Not big enough? Are you crazy? Their pant size 30s are more like 32s or 33s. Same goes with the lenght.
Maybe now that he's gone, they might lower prices and allow me to be happy when I get new clothes there?
Sounds like they had a big GAP in profit, hardy har har
I think GAP is really one of those companies that define an era. Like Guess in the 80's. GAP is so 1990's man now, it's all about Old Navy until 2010.
I still buy my clothes at Target though lol. It's a lot cheaper.
If GAP had grown up with the group of people who made it huge, they would have continued to succeed. Granted, they re-introduced "classic" styles, but those ended up looking like Mom Jeans. Those of us in our 30s and 40s want to look stylish without looking stupid. And our bodies are different from teens and 20-year-olds. If they'd just pay attention to us, they'd do well. I'd like to buy some new clothes, but I can't find any!
If GAP sells only small sizes then maybe their sales are decreasing with the same percentage rate as American's waistbands are increasing. =)
That's funny, Greg P, since one of my big complaints about Gap over the past decade has been that there's too much of a gender differentiation in their stores. The women's clothes have gotten girlier and obviously geared toward the teen girl segment.
As an aside, Gap (at least here) stopped carrying xsmall mens shirts in stores a few years back and they are only available online. I was told it was that way now across the country but have not really made an effort to verify. It's not just the larger folks who are being pushed out.
Oh, and providing clothes for waists higher than 36 would help too...