Interim GAP CEO Robert Fisher made his first proclamation to his employees announcing that the clothing retailer is not for sale, according to published reports.
His announcement ends current speculation of a sale based on media reports earlier this month that the clothing retailer hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser.
Once the darlings of the fashion world in the mid-1990s, the Gap has been going through some difficult times with sagging sales and profits over the last two years. So a change at the Gap seemed imminent. The clothing retailer began its shakeup from the top, accepting the resignation of CEO Paul Pressler on Jan. 22. That was the right first step. During his last year at the helm, the company reported sobering numbers.
For all of 2006, the Gap's same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, dropped 7%. Add that to a 5% decline in 2005.
Fisher is the son of Gap founders Don and Doris Fisher and is a 30-year veteran of the company. He seems to be a better fit for the CEO position than Pressler, who had no background in fashion and previously managed Disney's park and resorts division. As for turning around the Gap, the new CEO needs to refocus and boost its current fashion line and Fisher has already acknowledged that. Many analysts expect Fisher to close stores that are in the red and possibly rethink its forays into its current lines of Gap Kids, Gap Maternity and Baby Gap and Gap Body.
With the growth of other stylish clothing retailers such as H&M on the American shores, Fisher needs to work fast or he'll find the Gap in a bigger hole than before he took charge. — Gerald Magpily
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