GAP NAMES NEW HEAD OF EUROPEAN, JAPAN OPERATIONS
SAN FRANCISCO - 11/17/03 - Trendy retail giant Gap Inc. has named a 37-year-old former European sandwich-chain executive as president over its Gap stores in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Andrew Rolfe most recently was president of the upscale London food chain Pret A Manger - the French name translates to "ready to eat" - during a period of expansion for the company, which he joined in 1998, according to Gap.
Closely held Pret A Manger has locations in the United Kingdom, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo and since 2001 has been one-third owned by US fast-food giant McDonald's. At Gap, Rolfe will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Pressler in a role overseeing the company's international operations and growth plans, the company said.
Gap, founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher in San Francisco with a single store, employs more than 165,000 people supporting more than 4,200 stores in nearly 3,100 locations in the US, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, and Germany.
The job Rolfe assumes has been vacant since August, 2002, when Ken Pilot left the company for smaller rival J. Crew Group Inc.
"We know our brands have global consumer appeal, and international expansion represents a clear, longer-term opportunity for our company," Pressler said in a statement. He also noted the potential of international expansion for Gap Inc.'s Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, which currently operate in the US and Canada.
Together, Gap Inc. stores logged $14.5 billion in fiscal 2002 sales, making the company the nation's largest clothing retailer.
Gap's stores in Europe and Asia stores had $1.7 billion in sales during the year ended February 1. While that figure was the smallest of any division of Gap Inc., it remains a focus of growth for the company.
Prior to joining Pret A Manger, Rolfe was chief executive of a European catering-industry distribution company, Booker Foodservice.
According to Gap, Rolfe also was previously operations vice president in Europe for PepsiCo Restaurants International, overseeing 1,300 KFCs and Pizza Huts in 30 countries.
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