I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in what you have become. I can't say I'm surprised...the decline has been building for years. I worked at a recently-closed Gap, and I was there since the excitement of the 90's. Where to begin? Let me try.
When I first started working at Gap in the early 90's, Gap was THE place to shop. When people found out I worked there, they were jealous! They loved my outfits, and I did, too. I saw the rise of Gap. People stood in line during the holidays to buy everything Gap had to offer. I loved giving Gap gifts at Christmas and birthdays, and the recipients loved getting them. Gap was fun, colorful, and high-quality.
Fast forward to the infamous store meeting where all 90 of our employees were told that Gap was going fashion forward! Gap would be a fashion leader! I walked out of that meeting, looked at my friend, and I said, "Gap is going down."
It was not what I had hoped to say, but I knew our customers, and being "fashion forward" was not going to sit well. It didn't, and never really did after that. So that first shipment arrived. Huge, over-sized, airbrushed tank tops, ironically, didn't sell at $72. Why? Because they were hideous, poorly sized, and you could find a better fitting, better sized similar tank at Wet Seal, two stores down. We couldn't even give them away at $2.97 in the fall. I knew we were heading into a fashion decline.
The fall line was horrible, and Gap realized it was in trouble. They started putting a halt on whatever new stores were being built, and they tried to cancel as much of the upcoming lines as they could. It was an emergency back-to-basics move, that made Gap look like it was spiraling out of control. The clothing that they did manage to keep was as basic as possible. It was a drab color pallet of black, navy, olive, grey, white, and khaki. Customers kept asking what was going on. We had no answers.
It took a long time for Gap to recover from that "fashion forward" idea. And to be honest, it never really did fully recover. Yes, there were brief glimmers of hope, but from a sales associate's point of view, they just weren't listening to the customers or the employees. I could never figure out who was making all these bad choices. My guess? New "blood" who had "fresh" ideas for a company that was doing just fine. Trying to take an established, well-oiled machine and turn it into a "fashion forward" trendy clothing company was a huge mistake.
As far as letting Mickey Drexler go, well, the employees thought it was a mistake. Looking at the current state of Gap, I think we might have been right. So Gap tried some new designers, which ultimately failed. I remember seeing shipments come in already marked down for clearance, and it was the new line. The fabrics were a mix between Macy's woman and Hot Topic. There was no style, no flow, no consistency. We all wondered what the Hell was going on. They fired yet another designer.
Now, had they asked the employees what people were saying, we could have helped them out. One of the most common comments was..."If they made the adult line like the Baby Gap line, I'd buy this in a heartbeat."
Baby Gap was the only brand that seemed to sell at our store on many days. They had the classic Gap look, fun colors, and great quality. Why didn't they do that with the adult line? I will never know. They failed to ask us, the employees, what we think would work. However, they kept coming up with new, horribly unsuccessful looks, with poor quality and sizing. (Well, they did do a survey once. It changed nothing.) The customer became accustomed to super cheap sales because that was the only time clothing seemed to sell. There was no incentive to buy anything at full price.
And the days of the crazy stripe sweater...gone. Nothing was exciting any more. One holiday season we had mauve and gold, or brown and gold, color themes. No reds, no greens. Yes, mauve and brown. Very UN-holiday. The decorations, the once proud, colorful holiday explosion, had been reduced to cheaply made gold peace signs and brown mail-wrapping boxes. It was a disaster. I have not seen an exciting holiday collection in over a decade. So sad, but true.
You'd think, after all the success of the 90's, they might have looked at what made them so successful. The clothing was great...colorful, fun, well-made, and people loved it. Gap had it's own look. You knew a Gap oxford, a Gap sweater, Gap jeans and khakis. Then, they went and became generic, cheap, and ill-fitting. Trying to sell it to customers was very unsatisfying, and nearly impossible.
So fast forward to the past few years. There was the occasion glimmer of old Gap, but it didn't last. The writing was on the wall. Our store became a base level store. We got the most basic stuff Gap had to offer. The quality declined, the sizing was still off, and customers were not connecting with the merchandise. We knew things were looking dim. We made it past the first round of closings, but our turn soon came. And in the end, we did close.
I remember the last employee "pep rally," Gap's all-out push for spring. We had to watch a video promoting Gap's new turn around for Spring 2016. I knew we would not see that new line at our store, and we didn't. I did find their new approach, well, appalling. They were going to target the 25-35 year old...shocking. That hasn't worked in the past, but now, apparently Gap really knows what they are doing. Oh wait, that hasn't worked yet.
When will they listen? They clearly have no clue where to head the once mighty ship. When I look online to see the new lines (since I can't see them up close), I just shake my head. The clothing is generic, boring, and lacks any of the classic Gap style. I realize that the customers that made Gap the success that it once was have aged, but had Gap stayed true to it's origins and staples, it would have remained a force to be reckoned with.
It's unfortunate for so many reasons. One of the reasons I loved Gap so much, other than the once-awesome clothing, was how well it treated its employees. They were so open and progressive. Supporting the LGBT community long before it was fashionable. It offered so much promise and hope.
Sadly, those loyal customers have moved on, and they did a long time ago. They can find the same clothing at better quality and cheaper prices in many other stores. There is nothing that is really unique anymore about Gap. You'd think with all the Gap logo sweatshirts people still seek at outlet stores, the big wigs at Gap would notice that people long for the classic look of Gap. Will they ever get back to that? I am not sure. Even if they do, will it be too little too late?
It seems the once mighty Titanic known as Gap, has hit its iceberg, and now they are trying to keep a sinking ship afloat. I stayed with my store until the very last day...literally. It was such a sad moment. My friends and I stood there, looking at the now empty, once bustling, shell of three Gap stores. I took a moment, took it all in, and felt sadness in my heart. It was like a friend had passed away. I loved my store, and I looked forward to working my shifts. Fortunately, many lasting friendships emerged from those days, and for that I am eternally grateful.
I always hold hope that Gap will be able to turn it around, but the glory days of the 90's seem to be just that...glory days. It was a fun ride while it lasted. Thanks for the memories and the friendships. See you around, old friend.
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