type public traded as nyse gps s & p 500 component industry retail founded august 21 1969 ; 47 years ago 1969 08 21 san francisco california u.s. founder donald fisher doris f. fisher headquarters san francisco california u.s. number of locations 3 727 q1 2016 1 2 406 us 2016 2 area served worldwide key people art peck chief executive officer 3 bob fisher chairman 3 products clothing accessories revenue us 16.148 billion 2014 4 us 15.651 billion 2013 4 operating income us 2.149 billion 2014 4 us 1.942 billion 2013 4 net income us 1.28 billion 2014 4 us 1.135 billion 2013 4 total assets us 7.849 billion 2014 4 us 7.47 billion 2013 4 total equity us 3.062 billion 2014 4 us 2.894 billion 2013 4 number of employees 137 000 may 2014 5 subsidiaries banana republic old navy athleta intermix website www.gapinc.com content gapinc html.html the gap inc. 6 commonly known as gap inc. or gap stylized as gap is an american worldwide clothing and accessories retailer . it was founded in 1969 by donald fisher and doris f. fisher and is headquartered in san francisco california . the company operates five primary divisions the namesake banner banana republic old navy intermix and athleta . gap inc. is the largest specialty retailer in the united states and is 3rd in total international locations behind inditex group and h & m. 7 as of september 2008 the company has approximately 135 000 employees and operates 3 727 stores worldwide of which 2 406 are located in the u.s. 8 the fisher family remains deeply involved in the company collectively owning much of its stock . 9 donald fisher served as chairman of the board until 2004 playing a role in the ouster of then ceo millard drexler in 2002 and remained on the board until his death on september 27 2009 . fisher s wife and their son robert j. fisher also serve on gap s board of directors . robert succeeded his father as chairman in 2004 and also served as ceo on an interim basis following the resignation of paul pressler in 2007 before being succeeded by glenn k. murphy up until 2014 . on february 1 2015 art peck took over as ceo . 10 contents 1 history 2 corporate identity 2.1 logo 2.2 brands 2.3 marketing 2.4 international presence 2.5 product red 3 labour controversies 4 management 4.1 leadership 4.2 board of directors 61 5 stores 6 restatement 7 references 8 external links history edit donald and doris fisher who had a difficult time finding jeans that fit opened the first gap store on ocean avenue in san francisco on august 21 1969 ; its merchandise consisted of levi s and lp records . 11 they had raised us 63 000 to open the store 12 and reached us 2 million in sales in the second full year of operation . in 1970 gap opened its second store in san jose california ; its back room serves as the company s first replenishment warehouse . 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 . 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 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 . 25 26 the company announced it would open its first stores in brazil in the fall of 2013 . 27 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 . 28 corporate identity edit logo edit gap inc. owns a trademark to its name gap . the gap s original trademark was a service mark for retail clothing store services . the application was filed with the united states patent and trademark office on february 29 1972 by the gap stores ; registration was granted on october 10 1972 . the first use of the trademark was on august 23 1969 and expanded to commercial usage on october 17 1969 . a second application was filed by gap stores inc. on september 12 1974 this time for a trademark filed for shirts . the first usage for shirts and clothing products was on june 25 1974 . trademark registration was granted on december 28 1976 . both the service mark and trademark are registered and owned by gap apparel llc of san francisco california . on october 6 2010 in an effort to establish a contemporary presence gap introduced a new logo . it was designed with the helvetica font and reduced the prominence of the brand s iconic blue box . after much public outcry the company reverted to its previous blue box logo on october 12 after less than a week in use . 29 30 marka hansen the executive who oversaw the logo change resigned february 1 2011 . 31 1969 1986 1986 present october 4 11 2010 reverted back due to strong dislike brands edit banana republic a small safari themed clothing retailer was purchased by gap in 1983 and was rebranded as an upscale clothing retailer in the late 1980s . old navy was launched in 1994 as a value chain with a specialty flair . forth & towne the company s fourth traditional retail concept was launched on august 24 2005 featuring apparel targeted toward women 35 years and older . 32 on february 26 2007 after an 18 month trial period it was discontinued and the 19 stores were closed . 33 a fifth brand the online clothing and accessories retailer piperlime was created in 2006 ; however as of april 2015 the brand has been retired . 34 a sixth brand athleta a women s athletic wear line was added in 2009 . 35 intermix a multi brand fashion retailer founded in 1993 was acquired by gap inc. in 2012 . 36 gap s sales by division in q1 2009 37 divisions total revenue gap north america 834 million banana republic north america 475 million old navy north america 1.18 billion international 369 million gap inc direct 267 million marketing edit a gap location in westfield valley fair san jose ca . the gap originally targeted the younger generation when it opened with its name referring to the generation gap of the time . 38 it originally sold everything that levi strauss & co made in every style size and color and organized the stock by size . the gap was the first of many shops that carried only levi s which led to a worldwide shortage of indigo denim . citation needed the gap eventually started making their own jeans and selling them at the expense of jeans from levi s. 39 gap s current marketing works to appeal to a broad demographic of customers whereas banana republic presents a sophisticated image and old navy focuses fun fashion and value for families and younger customers . while the company has been criticized for blandness and uniformity in its selling environments it maintains that it tailors its stores to appeal to unique markets by developing multiple formats and designs . 40 the domain www.gap.com attracts over 18 million visitors annually according to a 2008 compete.com survey . 41 the brand is being criticized in the uk because the merchandise that is offered to the uk customers cost double the prices or even a direct swap found in the united states . gap also does not offer xxl or larger sizes in the uk stating the uk market does not require them in contrast to market leader next who offer a variety of larger sizes in the uk . international presence edit gap in hillcrest mall gap operates company owned stores in the united states canada the united kingdom france italy indonesia japan china hong kong taiwan and mexico as of may 2016 ; it also has franchise agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to operate gap banana republic or old navy stores in 43 countries . 42 as of may 2016 gap inc. operates 3 727 company owned and franchise locations . 43 in january 2008 gap signed a deal with marinopoulos group to open gap and banana republic stores in greece romania bulgaria cyprus and croatia . 44 in february 2009 elbit imaging ltd. secured a franchise to open and operate gap and banana republic stores in israel . 45 in august 2010 the company opened its first store in melbourne australia at chadstone shopping centre . citation needed in september 2011 komax opened the first gap store in chile due to a franchise . 46 in october 2011 the first gap store opened in warsaw poland 47 but shut it down and two other locations in wroc aw and katowice in 2015 . gap now has a store in new delhi india which opened in may 2015 . on 20 february 2016 gap launched stores in mumbai at oberoi mall and infinity 2 . in may 2016 gap inc. announced it would shutter all old navy stores in japan in response to poor q1 performance for old navy and consistent losses across the organization . 48 product red edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by