The Gap 2007 Annual Report Download - page 8

Outlet
The฀Outlet฀division,฀comprised฀of฀Gap฀Outlet฀and฀Banana฀Republic฀Factory฀Stores,฀delivered฀solid฀results฀฀
for฀the฀company.฀Displaying฀an฀agile฀and฀innovative฀approach,฀this฀team฀pioneered฀the฀outlet฀business฀
years฀ago.฀Today,฀they฀consistently฀bring฀together฀the฀best฀possible฀brand฀experience฀for฀our฀most฀value-
conscious฀customer฀in฀some฀of฀the฀busiest฀and฀most฀competitive฀retail฀centers.฀Art฀Peck,฀our฀EVP฀of฀
Corporate฀Strategy฀and฀Operations,฀currently฀acts฀as฀president฀of฀the฀Outlet฀division,฀leading฀a฀team฀that฀
continues฀to฀work฀in฀their฀own฀exible฀and฀creative฀way฀to฀maintain฀the฀momentum฀achieved฀last฀year.
International
With฀a฀team฀that฀speaks฀at฀least฀24฀languages฀and฀spans฀more฀than฀15฀countries,฀the฀Gap฀and฀Banana฀Republic฀
brands฀continue฀to฀enjoy฀a฀strong฀presence฀outside฀North฀America.฀Under฀the฀leadership฀of฀Stephen฀
Sunnucks฀in฀Europe฀and฀John฀Ermatinger฀in฀Japan,฀our฀International฀business฀has฀been฀expanding,฀most฀
recently฀with฀our฀rst฀Banana฀Republic฀store฀in฀the฀United฀Kingdom.฀2007฀also฀marked฀our฀successful฀฀
entry฀into฀new฀markets฀with฀franchise฀partners,฀and฀we฀now฀have฀75฀franchise฀stores฀in฀Asia฀and฀the฀฀
Middle฀East.฀We฀plan฀to฀continue฀expanding฀into฀new฀markets฀and฀meeting฀international฀customer฀demand฀
for฀our฀brands.
Online
In฀less฀than฀ve฀years,฀Toby฀Lenk฀has฀built฀a฀successful฀formula฀for฀the฀Gap฀Inc.฀Direct฀business฀by฀fostering฀฀
an฀entrepreneurial,฀start-up฀mentality฀within฀his฀team.฀This฀group฀put฀a฀world-class฀platform฀in฀place,฀฀
successfully฀expanded฀our฀online฀presence฀and,฀in฀2007,฀leveraged฀the฀power฀of฀a฀multi-brand฀company฀฀
by฀introducing฀co-branded฀versions฀of฀our฀private฀label฀credit฀cards.฀In฀addition,฀our฀rst฀online-only฀brand,฀
Piperlime,฀sells฀more฀than฀200฀brands฀of฀shoes,฀recently฀celebrated฀its฀one-year฀anniversary฀and฀adds฀new฀
customers฀every฀day.฀In฀2008,฀we฀will฀continue฀to฀leverage฀our฀strong฀technology฀platform฀to฀improve฀
customer฀experiences฀even฀further.
Each฀operating฀division฀has฀a฀personality฀and฀attitude฀all฀its฀own,฀but฀we’re฀at฀our฀best฀when฀we฀act฀as฀฀
one฀company.฀And฀we฀all฀recognize฀our฀responsibility฀to฀deliver฀sustained฀earnings฀improvements฀for฀฀
our฀shareholders.฀
When฀you฀walk฀into฀any฀of฀our฀stores฀or฀buildings,฀you฀can฀sense฀the฀sheer฀determination฀that฀our฀฀
employees฀are฀ready฀to฀win฀again.฀
Keeping฀our฀teams฀motivated฀and฀focused฀is฀a฀top฀priority฀for฀me,฀and฀I฀believe฀it฀begins฀with฀honest,฀direct฀
conversations฀about฀what฀we’re฀trying฀to฀accomplish.฀
Our฀employees฀are฀unied฀around฀our฀commitment฀to฀show฀“doing฀good฀is฀good฀business.”฀Being฀socially฀
responsible฀isn’t฀just฀a฀catch฀phrase;฀it’s฀a฀way฀of฀life฀for฀us,฀underscored฀by฀our฀teams฀on฀the฀ground฀in฀the฀
dozens฀of฀countries฀where฀we฀source฀our฀products.฀This฀is฀more฀important฀than฀ever฀given฀today’s฀complex,฀
global฀economy.฀And,฀supported฀by฀our฀Board฀of฀Directors,฀we฀remain฀steadfast฀in฀our฀commitment฀to฀
strong฀governance฀and฀conducting฀business฀in฀a฀responsible฀and฀ethical฀manner฀as฀we฀make฀the฀decisions฀
that฀are฀best฀for฀our฀stakeholders.
We’re฀also฀committed฀to฀keeping฀our฀founders’฀philanthropic฀values฀alive฀through฀our฀Gap฀Foundation฀pro-
grams,฀which฀are฀dedicated฀specically฀to฀job฀training฀skills฀for฀young฀adults฀in฀the฀U.S.฀and฀programs฀to฀
help฀women฀in฀developing฀countries฀where฀our฀products฀are฀sourced.฀As฀a฀result฀of฀the฀vision฀of฀Doris฀
and฀Don,฀community฀partnership฀is฀an฀important฀part฀of฀our฀culture,฀and฀our฀commitment฀continues฀to฀
expand฀through฀new฀grants฀and฀programs.
Finally,฀all฀of฀us฀at฀Gap฀Inc.฀are฀more฀than฀just฀employees.฀We฀are฀our฀best— and฀most฀critical—customers.฀฀
Not฀only฀do฀we฀believe฀in฀what฀this฀company฀stands฀for,฀we฀are฀striving฀to฀make฀it฀better.฀And฀we’re฀฀
determined฀to฀see฀our฀brands฀return฀to฀a฀stronger,฀more฀prominent฀position฀in฀the฀retail฀industry.฀It’s฀฀
a฀goal฀we’re฀committed฀to฀achieve,฀for฀both฀ourselves฀and฀our฀shareholders.
Thank฀you.
Financial฀Highlights
Shareholder฀Letter฀ ฀