The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008, Gap, Inc. has approximately 135,000 employees and operates 3,076 stores worldwide, of which 2,551 are in the United States.Gap, Inc. remains the largest specialty apparel retailer in the U.S., though it has recently been surpassed by the Spanish-based Inditex Group as the world's largest apparel retailer.Despite the company's publicly traded status, the Fisher family remains deeply involved in Gap, Inc.'s business and collectively owns a significant quantity of the company's stock.Donald Fisher served as Chairman of the Board until 2004, playing a role in the ouster of then-CEO Millard Drexler in 2002, and remained on the board until his death on September 27, 2009. Fisher's wife and their son, Robert J. Fisher, also serve on Gap's board of directors. Robert succeeded his father as chairman in 2004 and also served as CEO on an interim basis following the resignation of Paul Pressler in 2007, before being succeeded permanently by Glenn K. Murphy.On August 21, 1969, Donald and Doris Fisher opened the first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. The store's merchandise consisted of Levi's and LPs. The Fishers had raised $63,000 to open the store, and in one year, Gap's sales had reached $2 million. In 1970, Gap opened its second store, in San Jose, California, and established its first corporate headquarters in Burlingame, California, with just four employees. Gap grew rapidly. By 1973, it had more than 25 stores, including areas outside California—entering the East Coast market with a store in Voorhees, New Jersey. In 1974, Gap began to sell private-label merchandise.However Drexler was ousted in 2002 after over-expansion and a 29 month slump in sales, amid tensions between himself and the Fisher family. Drexler refused to sign a non-compete agreement and eventually became CEO of J. Crew. One month after Drexler's departure, sales rebounded strongly due to merchandise that he had ordered.Robert J. Fisher recruited Paul Pressler as the new CEO; Pressler was credited with closing poorly performing stores and paying down debt, however his use of focus groups didn't help Gap Inc. to recover its leadership in fashion. After two poor holiday sales seasons, Pressler resigned in 2007 and was succeeded by Robert on an interim basis.Patrick Robinson was hired as chief designer in 2007, however he was dismissed in May 2011 after sales failed to pickup. Robinson enjoyed critical success, particularly in international markets. His range of Perfect Black Trousers, launched in 2010, quickly became a front row uniform for fashion editors attending catwalk shows. He also masterminded sellout collections in collaboration with Stella McCartney, and with the cult shoe designer Pierre Hardy. In 2011, Robinson attracted criticism for sticking to a muted, faded-pastel palette which lost out to the juicy brights and stark monochromes at Zara.In October 2011, with U.S. sales eroding due to specialty retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and cheap chic merchants like H&M, Gap Inc. announced plans to close 189 stores (approximately 21 percent of U.S. Gap stores) by the end of 2013. The company, however, plans to expand its presence in China.
Net income $ 833 million (2011)
Total assets $ 7.4 billion (2011)