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Although it was founded in 1969 as an individual store in the Bay Area, the company now brings in $14.66 billion per year, according to 2010 reports. When Doris and Don Fisher initially opened their first Gap store, they never expected such expansion to take place but they are now credited with many retail firsts: including the invention of the first specialty retail category, the first fully-enclosed dressing rooms, the first store to use its store name as a brand name, and the first retailer to use wall space to display and sell their products. The Gap label was initially launched in 1972, in an effort to expand merchandise within Gap stores, which originally sold only Levi's.
With the assistance of merchant, Mickey Drexler, Gap became a popular and expanding label. Fisher and Drexler worked together to acquire a two-store mail order catalogue business, known as Banana Republic. Today, Banana Republic provides clothing and accessories to men and women around the world. In 1994, Old Navy was founded. The retail store, which was entirely planned and created by Fisher and Drexler, now has 1,000 locations in North America. In 2006, the company launched Piperlime, an online store that offers shoes, accessories, jewelry, and apparel. The company's most recent acquisition is Athleta, a women's performance apparel store that was obtained by Gap in 2008. Just last year, Gap first opened stores in China, Australia, and Italy. The company also broadened its online shopping centers, which are now accessible to customers in more than 80 countries.
Gap founders, Doris and Don Fisher formed the Gap Foundation in 1977, to assist underserved communities throughout the world. Since its beginnings, the Gap Foundation has donated more than $100 million to nonprofit groups and other causes. In 2000, Don Fisher gave a $15 million donation to the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), to fund the creation of the KIPP Foundation. The foundation is geared toward the development of charter schools and the training of school leaders to open such schools.
Career opportunities with Gap exist in the United States, Canada, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Italy, the Middle East, and Africa. Benefits vary by location but within North America, full and part-time employees are typically provided with medical benefits, dental coverage, and vision benefits. Life and disability insurance, private counseling resources, on-site health and wellness clinics, free Weight Watchers memberships, and gym discounts are also offered. Further benefits include 401(k), tuition reimbursement, merchandise discounts, paid time off, leave of absence, and adoption assistance reimbursement. Gap has 5,730 job opportunities listed at www.hound.com. Samples of these positions include loss prevention agent, merchandise manager, technical architect, operations manager, and assistant designer. There are only 98 job listings for this company at monster.com.
Do you want to work for Gap Inc.? Click here to see their current openings.
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