In 1969, Don Fisher, a California commercial real estate broker specializing in retail store

location, was a social friend of Walter "Wally" Haas Jr, President of Levi Strauss & Co. Fisher
was inspired by the sudden success of 'The Tower of Shoes' in an old Quonset Hut in a non-retail
industrial area of Sacramento, California.,[11][12] that drew crowds by advertising that no matter what
brand, style or size of shoes a woman could want it was at The Tower of Shoes. And knowing
that even Macy's, the biggest Levi's customer, was constantly running out of the best selling
Levi's sizes, and colors, Fisher asked Haas to let him copy The Tower of Shoes' business model
and apply it to Levi's products. Haas referred Fisher to Bud Robinson, his Director of Advertising,
for what Haas assumed would be a quick refusal; but instead Robinson and Fisher carefully
worked out a legal test plan for what was to become The Gap (named by Don's wife Doris
Fisher).
Fisher agreed to stock only Levi's apparel in every style and size, all grouped by size, and Levi's
guaranteed The Gap to be never out of stock by overnight replenishment from Levi's San Jose,
California warehouse. And finally, Robinson offered to pay 50% of The Gap's radio advertising
upfront and avoided antitrust laws by offering the same marketing package to any store that
agreed to sell nothing but Levi's products.
Fisher opened the first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco on August 21, 1969; its
only merchandise consisted of Levi's and LP records to attract teen customers.
In 1970, Gap opened its second store in San Jose. In 1971, Gap established its corporate
headquarters in Burlingame, California with four employees. By 1973, the company had over 25
locations and had expanded into the East Coast market with a store in the Echelon Mall
in Voorhees, New Jersey. In 1974, Gap began to sell private-label merchandise. [citation needed]
In the 1990s, Gap assumed an upscale identity and revamped its inventory under the direction
of Millard Drexler.[13] However, Drexler was removed from his position after 19 years of service in
2002 after over-expansion, a 29-month slump in sales, and tensions with the Fisher family.
Drexler refused to sign a non-compete agreement and eventually became CEO of J. Crew. One
month after his departure, merchandise that he had ordered was responsible for a strong
rebound in sales.[14][15][16] Robert J. Fisher recruited Paul Pressler as the new CEO; he was credited
with closing under-performing locations and paying off debt. However, his focus groups failed to
recover the company's leadership in its market.
In 2007, Gap announced that it would "focus [its] efforts on recruiting a chief executive officer who
has deep retailing and merchandising experience ideally in apparel, understands the creative
process and can effectively execute strategies in large, complex environments while maintaining
strong financial discipline". That January, Pressler resigned after two disappointing holiday sales
seasons and was succeeded by Robert J. Fisher on an interim basis. [17][18][19] He began working
with the company in 1980 and joined the board in 1990, and would later assume several senior
executive positions, including president of Banana Republic and the Gap units. [20] The board's
search committee was led by Adrian Bellamy, chairman of The Body Shop International and
included founder Donald Fisher. On February 2, Marka Hansen, the former head of the Banana
Republic division, replaced Cynthia Harriss as the leader of the Gap division. The executive
president for marketing and merchandising Jack Calhoun became interim president of Banana
Republic.[21] In May, Old Navy laid off approximately 300 managers in lower volume locations to
help streamline costs. That July, Glenn Murphy, previously CEO of Shoppers Drug Mart in
Canada, was announced as the new CEO of Gap, Inc. New lead designers were also brought on
board to help define a fashionable image, including Patrick Robinson for Gap Adult, Simon Kneen
for Banana Republic, and Todd Oldham for Old Navy. Robinson was hired as chief designer in
2007, but was dismissed in May 2011 after sales failed to increase. However, he enjoyed
commercial success in international markets.[22][23][24] In 2007, Ethisphere Magazine chose Gap from
among thousands of companies evaluated as one of 100 "World's Most Ethical Companies". [25]
In October 2011, Gap Inc. announced plans to close 189 US stores, nearly 21 percent, by the
end of 2013; however, it also plans to expand its presence in China.[26][27] The company announced
it would open its first stores in Brazil in the Fall of 2013.[28]
In January 2015, Gap Inc announced plans to close their subsidiary Piperlime in order to focus on
their core brands. The first and only Piperlime store, based in SoHo, New York City, closed in
April.[29]
In September 2018, Gap Inc began publicizing Hill City, a men's athletic apparel brand that
launched in October 2018.[30]
In August 2020, the company announced that alongside its Banana Republic brand will close
over 225 store locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The original plan of the company
was to close only 90 stores, however, they expanded the number as a consequence of the
financial effects caused by the pandemic. The firm still haven't figured out the exact locations that
will be closed, but most of them will be the ones set in malls. [31]
In November 2020, Gap Inch has partnered with Afterpay. This collaboration is planned to
improve digital shopping experience. [32][33]