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Big Changes for Gap, Inc.
Observing its 50th anniversary during 2019, Gap Inc. experienced a year of major change for one of the biggest specialty retailers in the world.
In February, Gap Inc. announced plans to spin off its best-performing division, Old Navy, into a separate, publicly traded company. A Gap statement said that the spinoff would allow Old Navy to be more profitable and give it opportunities to be more focused. Gap’s other brands, the namesake Gap brand, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City would continue to function together in an unnamed, publicly traded company.
But Gap Inc.’s sales seemed to get stuck in a rut in 2019. The company runs 3,938 stores in 44 countries, of which 3,396 are company owned. Same-store sales declined 4 percent for its first, second and third 2019 quarters. However, it still was making money. Gap Inc.’s net sales for its third quarter were $4 billion.
Art Peck, Gap Inc.’s chief executive officer and president, left the company on Nov. 7. Robert J. Fisher, a son of Gap Inc.’s founders and a nonexecutive chairman of the board, assumed responsibilities as the retail giant’s president and CEO. When Gap reported its third-quarter earnings, Fisher attributed the poor showing to back-office issues that were dragging down the company’s performance.
“We are not pleased with the third-quarter results and are focused on aggressively addressing the operational issues that are hindering the performance of our brands,” he said.
During 2019, Gap Inc. also acquired Janie and Jack, a children’s and infants’ clothing brand, from the Gymboree Group for $35 million. Janie and Jack operates over 100 bricks-and-mortar stores in the U.S. along with an e-commerce site, www.janieandjack.com.
