Just six years ago, gap Inc was telling investors that it is Alasta The yoga brand was on its way to It becomes a $ 2 billion brand per year Since it attracted hordes of fans its high quality, the active costumes that were less expensive than those that were less expensive than LululeMon Athletica.
But this was two executives. GAP Inc, which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, said on Tuesday that it replaces the CEO of ATHLETA Chris Blakeslee, click on Maggie Gauger, an inventor of warriors for 20 years NikeTo try her hand in reactivating the brand that was once considered a major engine for GAP Inc growth despite being smaller than sister brands. The brand has become high since its peak at $ 1.45 billion four years ago. Last year, the company’s sales amounted to 1.353 billion dollars, almost equally with the previous year, and then decreased sharply in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Gauger’s appointment is a return to the presence of an executive woman at the head of a brand known for her slogan “SHE” and being a sign of women and girls and their empowerment in the world of sports. “Maggie has the capabilities of transforming installed business, deep consumers, product fluency, and cardiac commitment to empower women and girls,” said Richard Dixon, CEO of GAP Inc, who has been leading a large -scale company for two years so far.
When Blakeslee set, before Dixon became CEO, It was announced exactly two years agoThere was a clear excitement and imagined that the drop was a coup. After all, Blakeslee came from ATHLETA Alo Yoga and Bella+Canvas, as he doubled sales to one billion dollars in just a few years. What’s more, Alo was, and still is born a ton of tanna and challenges the superiority of the leaders of long groups such as LululeMon.
But Blakeslee, who inherited a brand dealing with a set of fluctuations of products and the ATHLEISURE, which was reaching its peak, was unable to generate the same heat in Athleta. (Mary Beth Luton, the CEO now replaced irrigationIn 2023 a few months after leaving in the wake of what was described by the former CEO of GAP Inc Martin, “The Challenges of the Product Acceptance”.
After getting rid of the bleeding in 2024, ATHLETA’s declines resumed this year. A 8 % decrease in similar sales in the first quarter in May in Athleta has closed Blakeslee’s fate. “The work is carried out to reset the brand and improve products and marketing that will take some time,” Gap Inc said in its profit report in May.
Therefore, it will be up to Gauger, whose last job in Nike was leading her women’s work in North America, to treat slow innovation, and renew the focus on the performance side of his clothes that have become more focused on chasing fashion trends, and alienated for a long time in this process.
In Nike, Gauger focused on generating growth and customer loyalty to Nike and Ethnic products. “I feel vibrant to bring my work experience at the intersection of sport, elegance and culture to Athleta, a brand with a strong purpose and I am still unbelievable.”
Since the arrival of Dickson, the brand bearing the name GAP and Old Navy have witnessed its wealth, and has helped with a faster rhythm than innovation and a greater effort to link brands to the wider culture. So it is not surprising that Dixon wants someone to choose to do the same for the sports brand.
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