Gary Muto Named President of Ann Taylor Loft

Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (New York) has named Gary Muto president of its Ann Taylor Loft division, a position that has been vacant for nearly two years. Muto is a veteran of two decades at Gap Inc (San Francisco), most recently president of Gap Adult and GapBody.

Muto joined Gap in 1988, became president of Banana Republic in 2001 and president of the Gap brand the following year. He was president of Gap’s Forth & Towne unit from its inception in fall 2005 until it was closed in February 2007. No successor has immediately been named.

At Ann Taylor, Muto succeeds Donna Noce Colaco, who left Loft in January 2007 and in August of that year joined Chico’s FAS Inc. (Fort Myers, Fla.). He will report to Ann Taylor’s president and ceo, Kay Krill.

Loft, with more than 500 stores and sales of $1.17 billion, is the specialty apparel retailer’s largest operation.