THE GAP
Donald and Doris Fisher founded the Gap Inc.; in 1976, the company is a global apparel giant and specialty retailer selling casual apparel, accessories and personal care products under a variety of brand names. The Gap started it all in 1976 followed by Banana Republic in 1983, Baby Gap in 1990, Old Navy in 1994 and Gap Body in 1998. These stores are located throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. The Gap sells its products through both traditional retail stores and online stores.Mr. Fisher was in the real estate business before he entered retail. Donald fisher started the Gap because he had difficulty exchanging a pair of jeans that were too short at a very upscale department store. The lack of customer service left him very dissatisfied he saw an opportunity for a line of apparel combined with a store that offered more focus on customer service maintaining that his store would always be neat and clothes never in disarray. The first store was opened in the San Francisco area offering Levis Straus jeans in a variety of sizes along with records and books. When the FTC regulations were changed stating that manufactures could no longer fix retail prices The Gap moved to selling cotton
Drexler continued to expand the company and open new stores, expanding its total square footage by 31%, while the rest of the world was closing locations and laying employees off. The market is up, spending is up, but people are not as frugal as 10 years ago, today people want to get a bargain and save money. New Competition The Gap was also loosing market share to the larger retail chain stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, which could produce comparable looking apparel for 20-40% less then Gap. " NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) The numbers are up for the Gap, but up from what? With a new president and a new direction, they may become the movers and shakers they once were, but in today's economy and changed culture moving in that direction will take some time. They need to get to their core audience, but who is their core audience? Who wants to look good, who purchases clothing over the internet? What is the largest group of buyers with disposable income? Working class America is the core audience for all retail stores, the working class American and small business owners are what drive America today. To a majority of these families, shopping at the Gaps is an extravagant day out of spending, and is done sparingly. The Gap did not follow its core marketOverly aggressive ExpansionDrexler who was promoted to president in 1987 created his own demise. In the 80's and early 90's the Gap was the place to shop. With consumer being more price conscious Old Navy has now stolen many of the Gap's old cliental. The Gap needs to get back to the basics, but that is just the simple answer. A casual shirt and clean dress slacks were perfectly acceptable and the Gap was in perfectly position. Asia Americans are more likely then all others to purchase clothing over the internet, and the Gap's online sales have increased over the past 3 years.
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Acceptance Essays
