Gap Inc. NYSE: GPS is the largest specialty retailer in the United States. Their headquarters are located in San Francisco, California. Its namesake chain, Gap (originally The Gap), operates in the U.S. as well as in Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Gap Inc. also owns and runs the Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Forth & Towne clothing store chains.

History

Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher. The name came from the growing differences between children and adults, called "the generation gap", which reached its peak with the hippie movement. (The notion that Gap is an acronym for "Gay And Proud" is an urban myth.) The Fishers had been frustrated with the lack of decent customer service and fashionable styles at other retailers. One of the original mottos of the company was "Levi's for Guys and Gals." Around 1982 Gap began focusing on its own private label clothing and by 1991–1992 the company had stopped carrying Levi's.

As of April 2, 2005, Gap Inc. had approximately 150,000 employees and operated 3,005 stores worldwide.

Donald Fisher retired as Chairman of the Board in 2004 and was replaced by his son, Robert Fisher. The Fisher family collectively owns about 25% of the company. The current CEO of Gap is Paul Pressler, who previously ran the Disney theme parks.

Banana Republic

Banana Republic, formerly a catalog retailer selling safari themed clothing, was purchased by the company in 1983, and eventually was rebranded as an upscale clothing retailer. Old Navy was launched in 1994, as a value chain with a specialty flair.

In December of 1995 Gap became the first major North American retailer to accept independent monitoring of the working conditions in a contract factory producing its garments. This acceptance came after an international campaign of media criticism and consumer pressure that was organized in Canada by the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Ontario District Council of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). In the United States the campaign was coordinated by the National Labor Committee.

In 2004, Gap sold all of its German operations to the Swedish H&M, its main competitor in Europe.

Forth & Towne

In September 2004, Gap announced the launch of a new chain called Forth & Towne; its first location opened on August 24, 2005, in the Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York. The chain's selection will be targeted at women older than 35.

Commercials

In 1998, Gap commissioned music video director Mike Mills to make a set of visually striking ads to promote their khakis. They introduced the white letterbox format that has become the signature style of their commercials to date. In addition to the unique visual elements and the use of popular music, the commercials are also notable for introducing the American public to time slice photography, more commonly known as "bullet-time" in their commercial "Khakis Swing", a year before the technology would become popularized by The Matrix.

Phantom Planet front man Alex Greenwald became the popular face of many television commercials for Gap.

Recently, Gap has begun to use celebrity spokes models in their television advertisements, including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Daft Punk, Madonna, JC Chasez, Missy Elliot, Lenny Kravitz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tweet, Mary J Blige, Joss Stone and Michelle Williams (singer).

(Gap Information Courtesy of Wikipedia.)