Old Navy History

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Old Navy, Inc. History Company Perspectives: Old Navy's mission is to offer affordable, fashionable clothing and accessories for adults, kids, baby, and Moms-to-be. All of our merchandise is sold under the Old Navy name and only in our stores or on our website. Key Dates: 1994: The first Old Navy opens in Colma, California. 1997: Old Navy becomes the first retail chain to reach $1 billion in sales in less than four years. 2000: The chain suffers from distribution problems. 2001: Old Navy opens 12 stores in Ontario, Canada, its first units outside the United States. 2004: Old Navy celebrates its tenth year of business. Company History: Old Navy, Inc., a subsidiary of The Gap, Inc., operates a chain of approximately 850 clothing stores, marketing itself as a low-priced provider of apparel to women, men, children, and infants. The chain operates throughout the United States and in Canada, home to more than 30 stores. Old Navy accounts for approximately 40 percent of The Gap, Inc.'s $15.8 billion in sales. Origins The Gap, Inc. represented one of the most impressive success stories in the history of the U.S. retail business. The clothing chain was founded by Donald G. Fisher, whose frustration at finding a pair of jeans that fit led him to open his own clothing store in 1969. Fisher, a successful real estate developer, was 40 years old when he opened the first Gap store near San Francisco State University and attracted crowds of customers a generation his junior. Featuring a broad selection of low-priced blue jeans and records, Fisher's store was the first of what would become a massive chain of stores. After fine-tuning his concept, Fisher expanded remarkably quickly, creating a $100 million, 200-store chain spread across more than 20 states by the mid-1970s. By the end of the decade, the publicly traded chain, which was growing by as many as 80

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