Gap Inc. said Monday that Dawn Robertson, who led a turnaround at one of Australia’s largest retailers, will take over as president of the Old Navy division.
Robertson, managing director of the 60-unit Myer department store chain, said her “deep respect” for Old Navy was a key factor in the decision to take the job, adding, “Old Navy is a pretty iconic brand, which is what Myer was in Australia.”
She will assume her new post on Oct. 30, succeeding Jenny Ming, a 19-year veteran of Gap who headed Old Navy since 1998. Ming made it a national retail force with more than $6 billion in volume in over 900 stores. However, during the last two years, Old Navy’s same-store sales have been sinking and the division has lost market share to competitors.
Old Navy’s sales in stores open at least a year fell 11 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 6 percent decline in the same period last year. For the year, comp sales are down 7 percent, versus 6 percent a year ago.
Ming’s departure was announced in July. She was a member of the executive team that launched San Francisco-based Old Navy in 1994.
Robertson has almost 30 years of apparel retailing experience. During her four years at Myer, the company went from losing “$16 million the year before she arrived” to earning a $29 million profit last year, said Mark K. Montagna, senior retail analyst for C.L. King & Associates, an institutional research firm for investors.
Before joining Myer, Robertson, 51, a native of Birmingham, Ala., was president and chief merchandising officer of Federated Direct, a division of Federated Department Stores, overseeing the catalogue and online businesses for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. Previously, she was executive vice president of the Federated Merchandising Group for men’s, kids’ and home, and worked in senior positions at May Department Stores, as well as heading McRae’s, a former division of Saks Inc.
“For me, bringing Dawn in, with her great passion, her history of leading creative teams, is just going to help this team continue to move forward and accelerate,” said Paul Pressler, chief executive officer of Gap Inc. “[Old Navy] is transforming itself. It’s shifted its product focus to be a specialty retailer…making its product more covetable, more fashionable. We’re really pleased with the work that has been done.…Needless to say, the ability to be trend-right, spot-on, is [important]. Speed is something that we’re all facing.”
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Robertson said she will initially be “learning and listening.…It’s a very competitive environment that Old Navy is in right now. There are so many more choices.”
Several retail analysts praised the appointment.
“She has strong leadership skills,” said Richard Jaffe, senior retail analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co., a brokerage and investment banking firm. “This is a woman I don’t believe will be intimidated. She’s been a leader before of big, complex organizations. She has an interesting set of experiences — not only does she have a direct sourcing background, she has a large retailing background.”
Doug Christopher, senior analyst for Crowell, Weedon & Co., said, “I think it’s positive and that the company is heading in the right direction.”
Analysts said Robertson’s hiring was well timed. “Old Navy has had negative comp store sales for two years,” Jaffe said. “It’s a nice time to join the company.”
Jaffe said Robertson’s task is straightforward. “It’s simply to make the stores more appealing,” he said. “The space that Old Navy competes in — moderate-priced apparel — is enjoying an expanded market. More people than ever want to shop in the more moderate category. The opportunity for Old Navy has never been better, but the product has to capture the consumer.”
Montagna said the key is restoring Old Navy to its original position in the moderate category. “Old Navy used to have a kind of cult-like status,” he said. “Now it’s skewing more and more every day to a lower-income customer. It’s hard to grow your profits when that happens.”