From Gap to Crew

Millard (Mickey) Drexler, former ceo and chairman of Gap Inc. (San Francisco), has been named chairman and ceo of J. Crew Group Inc. (New York), effective immediately.

The retailer said Drexler will also make a personal capital investment in the company.

Ken Pilot, another former Gap executive who had become Crew's ceo in September 2002, will resign. Crew chairwoman Emily Woods, the daughter of company founder Arthur Cinader, will relinquish her title but will remain on the board and as an investor in the company.

Crew also announced that Jeff Pfeifle, who had been executive vp of product and design at Old Navy, will accompany Drexler across country, as president.

Drexler will invest $20 million in the company, as will Texas Pacific, Crew's majority shareholder.

“I have always admired and respected J. Crew and its position in the marketplace,” Drexler said in a statement. “I look forward to the challenge.”

Drexler, Gap's ceo since 1995, was widely credited for building a company that began with one San Francisco store in 1969 into a $13.8 billion retailing giant, with more than 4000 stores. However, he announced in May he would retire, after more than two years of struggling sales, once a successor was found. In September, Gap tapped Paul Pressler, a Walt Disney Co. executive, and Drexler left Gap. At that time, Drexler said he hadn't had time to decide what he will do next, but said he didn't have a contract that would prevent him from competing with the Gap.

Pfeifle, who joined Gap Inc. in 1993 as vp of men's product and design for Banana Republic, became executive vp of Old Navy in 1995. He had previously been director of merchandising for Ralph Lauren.

Pilot was named ceo after a four-month search to replace Mark Sarvary, who left Crew in May. Pilot had been president of Gap International. Crew was in the midst of slipping sales and revenue losses, and Sarvary had been criticized for his lack of retail merchandising experience. He had joined Crew in 1998 from the Nestle Co. At the time, the Crew board said in a statement: “We're very happy to have a true specialty apparel retailer as our new ceo. He has all the right qualifications to take the company to the next level.”