General manager of Gap and Old Navy stores resigns

(New York) The general manager of the Gap and Old Navy clothing stores, Sonia Syngal, has resigned from her position as the group’s sales slowed significantly at the start of the year, according to a press release on Monday.

She is replaced effective immediately and temporarily by Executive Chairman of the Board, Bob Martin, and will leave the company after a “brief transition”.

The statement does not give specific reasons for the departure of M^me Syngal.

But sales for the group, which also heads the Banana Republic and Athleta chain stores, were down 13% in its last accounting quarter. And Gap said on Monday that it expects a further decline in sales for the current quarter, of just under 10%.

Gap’s activity had suffered greatly at the start of the pandemic from the closure of many stores but had started to rise again in 2021 before settling again.

M^me Syngal was appointed to her post in March 2020.

For Neil Saunders, of the firm GlobalData, his mandate is “mixed”.

She was able to guide the company during the difficult period of the pandemic and “Brew the energy that some of its tired brands needed so badly”, he says in a note, referring in particular to the partnership with the brand of the eccentric Ye – formerly Kanye West.

But “progress has been slow and initiatives have been piecemeal rather than part of a larger revitalization plan,” adds the expert.

M^me Syngal had notably promoted a new policy offering a wider range of sizes in its Old Navy stores. But the chain found itself with too many plus sizes and not enough popular sizes and announced in May that it was reversing the initiative.

She said in the statement that the group would benefit from a “fresh outlook and rejuvenated leadership”.

The title of the company lost 3.5% in electronic trading following the closing of the New York Stock Exchange.