Gap Makes Design Team Changes

Gap Inc. (San Francisco) announced that Patrick Robinson, executive vp, Gap Global Design for Adult and Body, is leaving the company, effective immediately.

“After spending the last three months in New York with the creative team, I’ve made the decision to make a change within our Gap Adult design team,” says Pam Wallack, head of the New York-based Gap Global Creative Center.

A search will begin immediately for a replacement, says the company. In the interim, Wallack will provide day-to-day management of the design teams, while Jennifer Giangualano, senior vp, Kids and Baby Design, will direct the Adult design division.

This is the latest in a number of organizational changes for the specialty apparel retailer, including the introduction of Gap brand’s Global Creative Center, directly aimed at improving performance in North America and fueling global growth.

The company also reported its net sales were $1.15 billion for the four-week period ended April 30, 2011, were compared with $1.05 billion during the same period next year. Gap’s comparable sales for April 2011, which include the associated comparable online sales, were up 8 percent compared with a 2 percent decrease in April 2010.

“While our overall April performance was solid, we’re very focused on driving improvement across all of our businesses in North America, as we also continue to grow internationally and online,” says Glenn Murphy, chairman and CEO of Gap Inc.

In addition, the company reported that net sales for the first quarter, which ended April 30, 2011, decreased 1 percent to $3.30 billion compared with $3.33 billion for the first quarter last year. The company’s first quarter comparable sales, which include the associated comparable online sales, were down 3 percent compared with a 5 percent increase in the first quarter of the prior year.

Among its division, comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011 were as follows:

•Gap North America: negative 3 percent versus positive 3 percent last year
•Banana Republic North America: negative 1 percent versus positive 6 percent last year
•Old Navy North America: negative 2 percent versus positive 6 percent last year
•International: negative 6 percent versus flat last year