Gap Names CEO
San Francisco–based retail giant Gap Inc. named Glenn Murphy chairman and chief executive officer of the company, filling a position left vacant by Paul Pressler, who left the company in January. Robert J. Fischer, chairman of Gap’s board of directors, has been serving as interim chief executive officer since Pressler left. He will continue to serve on the company’s board.
Murphy has more than 20 years of retail industry experience and has a “track record of revitalizing established brands,” according to a company statement.
Previously, Murphy was chairman and chief executive officer of the Canadian drugstore chain Shoppers Drug Mart. During his tenure with the company, the chain’s revenues increased 22 consecutive quarters and doubled its earnings per share. Before joining Shoppers Drug Mart, Murphy was with Canadian retail and wholesale food company Loblaw Companies Inc., where he held several positions, and served as president and chief executive officer of Canadian book retailer Chapters.
Murphy will begin his new position at The Gap as soon as he receives his U.S. work authorization, according to a company statement.
Gap, which operates more than 3,100 stores under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime nameplates, reported $15.9 billion in sales for fiscal 2006, nearly on par with sales in fiscal 2005 but down slightly from fiscal 2004’s revenue of $16.3 billion. The company has been posting flagging same-store sales in recent years, showing a 7 percent decline in 2006 across all divisions and a 5 percent decline in 2005 across all divisions. So far this year, the company is showing a 4 percent decline in same-store sales across all divisions, most significantly in its Old Navy division.Its best-performing division, Banana Republic, posted flat or increasing same-store sales for four out of six months in 2007.
—A.A.N.
