Organizational Analysis

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

The Gap, Inc is a leading global speciality apparel company. They operate under five different division in different locations. The names that they operate include Gap, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Old Navy and Athleta. These divisions all target a different segments Banana Republic targets the urban chic crowd, Old Navy is more for a family on a budget, Piperlime is an online only retailer, and Athleta focuses on active wear . The Gap Inc. first opened their doors in July 1969 and since has been competing with well known stores such as Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, TJX Companies, Aerpostale, J. Crew, Macy’s and such .

Gap Inc. founded as a single store by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The idea of The Gap was said to be realized when Fisher went shopping for jeans and he couldn’t find the right size at a Levi’s department store. He noticed that the popularity of jeans was rising above what merchandising outlets could accommodate. That is when Fisher got the idea of having a chain of small store which were only devoted to jeans. One of the first stores that Fisher and his wife opened was in San Francisco where they offered a combination of jeans and records . The appeal for jeans grew which also lead to the growth of the company. By the end of the 1970’s Gap Inc. had sale of $307 million. After the recession that arrived in the 1970s Gap Inc. changed up their clothing line and started carrying a larger variety and sales grew to $480 million by the end of 1983. They also started selling their own labels and in the 1990s the company’s net income passed $6.5 billion. In 1983 a little before their huge success in 1990 Gap Inc. purchased Banana Republic which then was then a catalogue retailer and sold safari themed clothes. The Gap Inc. transformed Banana Republic and established it as a high end business women’s store. The other addition to Gap Inc’s chain of brands was Old Navy which was established in 1994 and started off as the “Gap Warehouse” and it soon proved to be one of their biggest successes .

The success of The Gap was credited to how fast they replaced the stock, the low prices which always stayed that way, keeping big sellers on the rack rather than switching them in for newer styles and keeping a minimal amount of products but ensuring the full range colors and sizes were all available to the customers . Gap Inc. now has company operated stores in United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Japan, China, and Italy. Along with that Gap Inc. company operated stores they also has a franchise agreement with unaffiliated franchises to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores all throughout Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Currently sitting at about 3,263 store locations worldwide, 227 of these which are franchise operated locations .

ORGANIZATIONAL