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Gap Inc’s GPS 3.05% namesake brand is in a deep funk again. And the company’s CEO says that a much more inspired women’s wear collection is key to restoring the chain’s health.
Gap公司的同名品牌再度陷入困境。公司首席執行官稱，一個更具靈感的女裝系列是讓這家連鎖零售商重拾活力的關鍵。
Gap’s comparable sales fell 5% last year, compared to a flat performance at sister chain Banana Republic and a 5% jump at value chain Old Navy. Gap has been facing stiff competition from fast fashion stores like H&M and Uniqlo, and basic clothing has become more of a commodity. Add to that mediocre fashion designs and you have an iconic but faltering brand.
去年，Gap品牌的可比銷售額下降了5％，同期，其姐妹品牌Banana Republic的銷售額持平，而平價品牌Old Navy的銷售額增長了5％。Gap面臨來自H＆M和優衣庫等快時尚商家的激烈競爭，同時，基本款服裝日益普遍。加之Gap的服裝設計乏善可陳，品牌號召力大不如前。
In an effort to find its footing again, Gap recently eliminated the role of creative director that had been held by star design consultant Rebekka Bay, whom it had hired just over 2 years earlier after she successfully launched H&M’s upscale Cos brand. Gap also hired a new brand president. Gap Inc CEO Art Peck, who headed the brand a few years ago himself, said on Thursday that fixing Gap brand was his “No. 1 priority.” And that means focusing on improving its women’s wear in particular.
為了重新站穩腳跟，Gap最近取消了由明星設計顧問麗貝卡o貝擔任的創意總監一職。加盟Gap僅兩年的麗貝卡，此前曾成功推出H＆M旗下高端品牌Cos。Gap還聘請了新的品牌總裁。上周四，Gap公司首席執行官阿特o派克表示，重振Gap品牌是其“頭等要務”，而這意味著專注于提升女裝業務。派克在幾年前曾親自執掌Gap品牌。
“It starts with righting the women’s business. There’s an esthetic issue, which we’re working on today with urgency,” Peck said, speaking on his first earnings call as CEO this week. Peck replaced longtime CEO Glenn Murphy earlier this month. “We need to have the women’s business hitting on all cylinders in order for the business the performances that we expect.”
上周，派克在出任公司首席執行官后，首次出席收益電話會議，他表示：“首先要重振女裝業務。這里存在審美問題，我們正努力盡快解決該問題。”本月早些時候，派克取代了擔任首席執行官已久的格倫o墨菲。“要達到我們預期的業績，女裝業務必須馬力全開。”
Gap also announced on Thursday it had hired former L Brands LB -0.13% executive Wendi Goldman to the newly created role of executive vice president for Gap product design and development. Peck acknowledged she has her work cut out for her.
Gap上周四還宣布，聘請了前L Brands高管文迪o戈德曼擔任新設立的Gap產品開發設計副總裁一職。派克稱，這一職位是為戈德曼量身打造的。
While women’s denim is showing a bit of improvement, Peck said that Gap is missing the mark fashion wise on tops, particularly wovens and knits, with poor fits and an unappealing esthetic. “She’s just not responding to the product there right now at all,” Peck said, referring to Gap’s female consumers disinterest in the current merchandise.
派克表示，雖然Gap的牛仔女裝業務稍有起色，但該品牌的上裝，尤其是針織衫，缺乏時尚感，而且既不合身也不好看。談到Gap的女性顧客對現有商品興趣缺缺，派克說道：“對現在的產品她們純粹是眼也不眨一下。”
The problem for Gap is that it has already bought for the spring and summer seasons, so it warned its profit for the brand-new fiscal year will be hit by a “slower turnaround at Gap brand.”
問題是其春夏款商品已經進貨，因此，公司警告稱，“Gap品牌局勢扭轉較慢”將影響其新財年的利潤。
Gap was also the author of its own problems in other ways. Gap was slower than its sister brands to speed up its supply chain, handcuffing it when it comes to responding to fashion hits or misses and reacting to what H&M and Uniqlo do. So Peck is making it a priority to shorten the product calendar at Gap, and is making other changes so it can quickly ramp up production of things are proving to be popular items.
在其他方面，Gap可謂是其自身問題的始作俑者。在供應鏈提速方面，Gap落在了姐妹品牌之后，這使其無法迅速對大熱或受冷的時尚潮流做出反應，也無法迅速應對H＆M和優衣庫的動作。因此，派克將縮短Gap的產品周期作為優先事項，并輔以其他改變，使Gap能迅速增加熱賣品的產量。
Peck, who was president of Gap North America and its 700 stores from February 2011 to November 2012, pointed to his own experience to prove the Gap brand can strike again. Gap had struggled for a few years, closed 200 stores, but then had a massive home run in 2013 with bright colored jeans and “on-trend” products. Indeed, Peck promised more color and print and patterns later this year.
2011年2月至2012年11月，派克曾擔任Gap北美區及其700家門店的總裁。他稱自己的經歷表明Gap品牌能東山再起。Gap曾有幾年苦苦掙扎，關了200家門店，但隨后在2013年憑借亮色牛仔褲和“潮流”單品大獲成功。事實上，派克承諾在今年晚些時候，推出更多彩色、印花和帶圖案的單品。
Gap Inc cannot afford to have its $6.2 billion-a-year namesake brand falter for very long. It generates 38% of the parent company’s sales, and the brand is expanding overseas. Its mens, babies, and Fit lines are doing well. But the biggest category in the Gap brand – women- is not. And that has to change.
Gap公司不能任由其年銷售額高達62億美元的同名品牌一蹶不振。Gap品牌貢獻了公司38%的銷售額，而且該品牌正向海外擴張。Gap的男裝、嬰兒裝以及Fit產品線的業績都不錯。但該品牌最大的產品類別——女裝業績不佳。這種局面必須扭轉。
“I wish Gap was in a different place,” Peck said.
派克稱：“我真希望Gap不是眼下這樣。”
