Can Global Gap Be Out Of The Mire?

NYSE:GPS recently announced the appointment of Neil Fiske as its president and CEO of Gap. Fiske will formally take office today (June 20, 2018), join the company's top management team and report to Art Peck, CEO of Cape group.

"Next, I am looking forward to working with the team to improve performance, optimize operations, increase sales and create unique and excellent marketing." Fiske says. 　　

Fiske in retail industry More than 20 years of experience in brand building and remodeling. He previously served as CEO of Billabong International, reshaping the brand's industry leading position and helping it achieve many years. market Share growth. Earlier, Fiske served as president and CEO of Eddie Bauer for five consecutive years. He continued the history of the company and successfully reconstructed it into an original outdoor clothing brand in the United States.

More importantly, Fiske, as chief executive of Bath and Body Works, has led the brand to achieve a comprehensive transformation, reversing many years of declining sales performance in the same store.

This is also a top priority for the Gap brand. Previous 13 months of same store sales decline, forcing it to announce the closure of North America to shut down 175 poor performance branches. Meanwhile, GAP headquarters will lay off 250 people as part of the company's plan to enhance its brand productivity and interest rate. According to the 2017 financial year report released by Gap group, although the performance of Gap group is recovering, net profit rose 25.4% to 848 million US dollars, and sales increased 2.2% to 15 billion 860 million US dollars, but its Gap brand sales decreased 2.5% to 5 billion 318 million US dollars.

In order to let Gap get out of the mire of achievement as soon as possible, the group announced at the beginning of the year that the brand CEO Jeff Kirwan will be leaving, and its position will be temporarily represented by Gap executive vice president and global talent and sustainable development director Brent Hyder.

On the other hand, the group's "Old Navy" has been strong in the past five years. In the 2017 fiscal year, sales of Gap and Banana Republic continued to grow, while sales rose by 6.2% to $7 billion 238 million over the same period in the year of sales of Republic and Gap. It is reported that Larsson has served in H&M for 15 years. After joining Gap in 2012, it immediately helped Old Navy achieve a profit growth of three consecutive years.

"Neil will bring rich experience in the retail and garment industry to the Cape group, and a series of outstanding achievements in the transformation and remodeling of the brand," Peck said. "Neil is an experienced leader who is well versed in the operation mechanism of the apparel retail industry, the importance of the overall channel strategy, and the necessity of building a brand that can gradually develop and relate to customers. I believe Neil is to strengthen the brand of cap PU. market The best candidate for status. "

As of the end of fiscal year 2017, Gap group has 3594 stores in the world and more than 1600 stores in Gap brand stores. Among them, 56 stores were added in the fourth quarter, but 101 stores were closed, and 55 stores were closed.