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Retail legend built jeans store into empire of 3,145 stores on three continents
Don Fisher, often credited as the father of the specialty retail category, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. The co-founder, chairman emeritus and board member of Gap, Inc., was 81.
Fisher and his wife Doris opened the first Gap store on August 21, 1969 in San Francisco—prompted by their frustration after trying to return a pair of jeans that didn’t fit. That store, named for the Generation Gap, grew to a multi-brand portfolio that includes Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. His retail vision built a corporation with 3,145 stores open in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Japan and Ireland and a pipeline of franchise agreements in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. 2008 sales totaled $14.5 billion.
“Don and Doris took a simple idea and turned it into a brand recognized as a cultural icon throughout the world. They changed the face of retail forever,” said Glenn Murphy, ceo and chairman of the board of Gap, Inc., in a corporate statement.
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