Gap Inc.

Doris F. Fisher co-founded The Gap in 1969 with her husband, Donald G. Fisher, after Don was unable to find jeans that fit on a shopping trip.⁠[1]

The first Gap store opened in 1969 at 1950 Ocean Avenue in San Francisco, selling men’s Levi’s, records and tapes. In 1970 a second store opened in San Jose and Gap began selling Levi’s for women. Gap reached 25 stores in 1972, and the first Gap-label products went on sale in 1974.⁠[2]

In 1976 The Gap Stores, Inc. went public with an initial offering of 1.2 million shares at $18 per share.⁠[2]

In 1983 Gap Inc. acquired Banana Republic, a two-store safari and travel clothing business founded in Mill Valley in 1978.⁠[2]

In 1986 the first GapKids store opened in San Mateo, California. In 1987 Gap expanded outside the United States for the first time with several stores in London, and in 1989 the first Canadian Gap opened in Vancouver, British Columbia.⁠[2]

In 1991 Gap announced that Levi’s would no longer be sold in its stores by the end of that year.⁠[2]

In 1994 the first Old Navy store, based on the Gap Warehouse prototype, opened in Colma, California, and Gap Outlet stores opened under the new Gap Factory Outlet division. In 1995 Gap and GapKids opened inside Tokyo’s Hankyu department store. The company says Old Navy reached $1 billion in annual sales in 1997, the fastest retailer to do so in under four years.⁠[2]

In 2004 Donald G. Fisher stepped down as chairman of the board while remaining a director. In 2008 Gap Inc. acquired Athleta, a women’s activewear catalog company founded in 1998. Donald G. Fisher died in 2009.⁠[2]

In 2010 Gap opened stores in Shanghai and Beijing and launched Gap.cn. In 2011 Athleta opened its first physical store, on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. In 2013 Gap Inc. acquired Intermix, a 32-store luxury boutique chain founded in 1993, and helped form the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.⁠[2]

In 2018 the company launched Hill City, a men’s high-performance lifestyle brand, and in 2019 it acquired the premium children’s retailer Janie and Jack. In 2020 Gap Inc. unveiled its Power Plan 2023 strategy.⁠[2]

In 2021, under the Power Plan, the company closed Hill City, sold Janie and Jack to Go Global Retail and sold Intermix to Altamont Capital Partners.⁠[2]

On July 26, 2023 Gap Inc. announced the appointment of Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel, as president and chief executive officer effective August 22, 2023; Bobby Martin, who had served as interim CEO, remained chair of the board.⁠[3]

In 2024 designer Zac Posen joined the company as executive vice president and creative director and chief creative officer at Old Navy.⁠[2]

On March 5, 2026 Gap Inc. announced results for fiscal 2025, ended January 31, 2026: net sales of $15.4 billion, up 2%, with comparable sales up 3%. By brand, Old Navy net sales were $8.7 billion (up 3%), Gap $3.5 billion (up 5%), Banana Republic $1.9 billion (down 1%) and Athleta $1.2 billion (down 10%).⁠[4]

At the end of fiscal 2025 the company had 2,474 company-operated stores and about 1,000 franchise stores, nearly 3,500 stores in about 35 countries. CEO Richard Dickson said: “I am pleased to report that Gap Inc. delivered a successful fourth quarter, marking another year of meaningful progress.”⁠[4]

Co-founder Doris F. Fisher died in San Francisco in 2026 at the age of 94. The company said she helped shape Gap’s advertising and product development and pushed it to focus on customers.⁠[1]

Gap Inc. is incorporated in Delaware. As of February 1, 2025, the end of fiscal 2024, it had about 82,000 employees and operated 2,506 company-operated stores and 1,063 franchise store locations.⁠[5]

Gap Inc.: Official website: https://www.gapinc.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

X: Public account: https://x.com/GapInc (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gap-inc- (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/GapInc (opens in a new window).⁠[6]