Abercrombie isn’t the iconic brand experiencing a retail turnaround. For the past two decades, clothing retailer GAP has struggled to turn around flagging sales and declining cultural relevance—but one year in, CEO Richard Dickson has made notable changes like:
- Increasing brand clarity and priorities. Each brand is focusing on its core identity, with key priorities and new metrics to increase leader accountability to goals.
- Simplifying and consolidating the work. He’s reduced product assortment by 20% and moved all messaging to one advertising agency.
- Encouraging transparency and candor. Increased communication and more frequent internal events make employees feel a part of the transformation. He also encourages teams to openly discuss what’s working (and not).
Efforts seem to be paying off: in May 2024, all four brands grew quarter-over-quarter for the first time in seven years, and delivered impressive profit. Learn more about GAP’s ongoing transformation.
