Gap Drops Another Shoe

Gap Inc. (San Francisco) has removed Cynthia Harriss as president of the Gap brand. In a statement, Gap said Harriss had resigned. She will be succeeded by Marka Hansen, currently the president of Banana Republic.

“During the past 20 years, [Hansen] has developed a unique blend of deep merchandising expertise, extensive leadership experience and a real appreciation for the company's culture and creative heritage,” said Gap’s interim ceo, Robert Fisher. “[Hansen] also has demonstrated through her tenure at Banana Republic that she understands what it takes to lead an iconic apparel brand.”

The move comes a week after the struggling specialty apparel retailer ousted ceo Paul Pressler. Pressler had come to Gap from The Walt Disney Co. (Burbank, Calif.) and Harriss, a former colleague of his at Disney, had followed him to Gap.

When Harriss arrived at Gap in 2004 as head of Gap’s outlet unit, she was viewed as an unusual choice to run one of the country’s biggest clothing brands because she had never overseen a national clothing chain. According to a report in this morning’s New York Times, “in meetings with investors she hewed closely to prepared remarks and appeared uneasy talking about fashion.”

The Times noted that several months ago, in an interview in Manhattan, Harriss repeatedly called on Trey Laird, who serves as the creative director for the Gap brand, to answer questions about the new (Product) Red line, which donates part of its profits to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

On the other hand, Hansen is widely viewed as a merchant highly comfortable around clothes and clothing designers. She has held various positions within the Gap brand since joining the company in 1987 as a merchandise manager for Banana Republic. She joined Gap's international division in 1993 as vp, merchandising, leading the brand's expansion into Europe and Japan. She was promoted to senior vp in 1995. She briefly led Gap Inc.'s human resources organization before being promoted to executive vp of Gap adult merchandising in 2002. She became president of Banana Republic in 2003.

“We are not staying the course,” said Fisher. “We know we have to get the right product on the table, and we’re putting the people in place to deliver that.

“We share the same personal history and long commitment to this company,” Fisher said of Hansen.