Gap Names Old Navy Head Sonia Syngal as CEO of Full Company

(Bloomberg) -- Gap Inc. named its Old Navy leader, Sonia Syngal, as chief executive officer as the apparel retailer looks to reverse falling foot traffic and sales while it pivots to a new strategy.

Syngal, 49, will take over as of March 23, the company said in a statement. She became CEO of Old Navy in 2016 and her previous roles include executive vice president for global supply chain and product operations at Gap. She joins the small cohort of female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies.

Robert Fisher, the son of Gap's founders who has served as interim CEO while the company looked for a permanent replacement, said that Syngal will “deliver value from our portfolio of brands over the long term.” The company also named Bobby Martin, a Gap board member and former CEO of Walmart Inc.'s international business, to take over as executive chairman.

Gap shares fell as much as 1.6% in late trading on Thursday after initially gaining following the announcement. The stock has lost about a quarter of its value so far in 2020, continuing the broad slump that began in 2018.

Syngal oversaw sustained growth at the Old Navy chain -- but like Gap's namesake brand, that expansion has evaporated in recent quarters. She inherits a business that has reported weakness across its three biggest divisions amid a broad change in how consumers shop for apparel. Overcoming those shifts will be key if Gap has any hope to regain its past prominence.

Failed Spinoff

Pressure will be high for her to produce a turnaround strategy that resonates with investors. Wall Street's patience may be thin after Art Peck's departure from the role of CEO in November. One of his last acts was to try to spin off Gap's discount chain Old Navy from its other brands -- an attempt that was ultimately scrapped. He also failed to reignite sales growth during his tenure, with the company posting multiple quarters of negative same-store sales, a closely watched metric for retailers.

The attempt to spin off Old Navy highlighted Gap's operational deficiencies and led to the abrupt change in strategy.

“The work we've done to prepare for the spin shone a bright light on operational inefficiencies and areas for improvement,” Fisher said in a statement in January.

Gap, which was founded in 1969 in San Francisco, owns its namesake brand, Old Navy, Banana Republic and athleisure brand Athleta.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordyn Holman in New York at jholman19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Cronin at acronin14@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder, Sally Bakewell

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