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Glenn Murphy is new Gap Chairman & CEO

27 Jul '07

4 min read

"Glenn is known for being a decisive leader with great retail instincts who understands his customers," said Mr. Fisher. "He has revitalized major retail brands by offering new products and significantly improving the store experience. He's well qualified to return Gap Inc to the level of sustained performance we all expect."

During his more than 20 years of experience in retail, Mr. Murphy successfully reinvigorated retail brands in the areas of food, health and beauty, and books. Most recently, at Shoppers Drug Mart, he differentiated the brand with new products and better service, and grew the company's market capitalization from about CAD $3 billion to over CAD $10 billion following its public offering. He left the company in March of this year, after guiding the transition to his successor, to pursue other international opportunities.

Prior to this success, Mr. Murphy held several positions at Loblaw Companies Ltd, the leading retail and wholesale food company in Canada. He drove substantial improvements at the company in the face of competition from big box retailers and led the integration of a significant acquisition into Loblaw's portfolio. He also served as president and CEO of Chapters, a major book retailer in Canada with separate retail, online and distribution businesses.

A committee of Gap Inc's board of directors oversaw the search for a new CEO. The search committee was led by independent Gap Inc director Adrian Bellamy, chairman of The Body Shop International plc and Reckitt Benckiser plc.

The committee also included Donald G. Fisher, Gap Inc's founder and chairman emeritus; Domenico De Sole, former president and chief executive officer, Gucci Group NV; and Bob L. Martin, the board's lead independent director and a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc executive.

"The search committee undertook a rigorous process and when we met Glenn the entire board unanimously agreed that we'd found the right leader for our company," said Mr. Bellamy."His proven retail skills and demonstrated financial results complement the strong brand leaders we have running our core businesses. We are confident he will prove to be a very successful leader of our management team in the years ahead."

"On behalf of the board, I also want to thank Bob Fisher for his tireless dedication and leadership during his six-month tenure as interim CEO," said Mr. Bellamy. "Under Bob's direction, Gap Inc has made important progress on the long-term changes needed to improve the business."

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