SWOT ANALYSIS OF GAP [/b][/b]
Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008, Gap, Inc. has approximately 135,000 employees and operates 3,076 stores worldwide, of which 2,551 are in the United States. Gap, Inc. remains the largest specialty apparel retailer in the U.S., though it has recently been surpassed by the Spanish-based Inditex Group as the world's largest apparel retailer.
Despite the company's publicly traded status, the Fisher family remains deeply involved in Gap, Inc.'s business and collectively owns a significant quantity of the company's stock.
Donald Fisher served as Chairman of the Board until 2004 and remained on the board until his death on September 27, 2009. His wife and their son, Robert J. Fisher, also serve on Gap's board of directors. Robert Fisher succeeded his father as chair in 2004 and also became president and CEO on an interim basis following the resignation of Paul Pressler in 2007.
Glenn K. Murphy is the current CEO of the company. Previous Gap, Inc. CEOs include Millard Drexler and Paul Pressler.
Gap Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer offering clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta brand names. Gap brand includes Gap, GapKids, babyGap and gapbody. The company also operates Gap Outlet and Banana Republic Factory Outlet stores.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF GAP [/b]
Strengths [/b]
- Trendy, High Fashion
- Recognizable and Prominent to Men's Market
- Very powerful brand and influential in overseas
- Brand has a balanced value equation
- Infrastructure which allows for ease of distribution nationally and internationally
- Durability of products
- Ubiquitous brand
Weakness[/b]
- Not easily affordable
- Not a trend setter
- Appears to have lost touch with core consumer
- Untargeted marketing
- Declining operating cash flows
- Weak performance of Gap brand
Opportunity [/b]
- Grow into new markets/consumer segments
- Expanding beyond clothing to include shoes, handbags, accesories, etc.
- Product and services expansion
- Producing a subline / Collabration with other designers
- Become a fashion setter again
- Emerging markets expansion, particularly China and India
- Marketing through a popular Celebrities and models
Threats[/b]
- Fast forward fashion houses, e.g Zara, Topman
- Competitors
- Rising production costs
- Economy crisis
- Imitation goods