It was 1983 and Don Fisher knew something was wrong. His company – Gap Inc. – had recently topped sales and revenue records, with the highest marks in the company’s 14-year history. In theory, Fisher should have been pleased, but walking into his stores saw chaos. Sale signs with yellow labels were strewn all over the place; the advertising methods seemed cheap and placed more emphasis on discounts than on quality.
Fisher wanted to run a stylish, full-fledged business, not a bargain bin that was successful because of the low prices, and he could see the long-term writing on the wall. This was not a sustainable way to run a business. It was profitable, but something was missing.
“Making money is one thing,” he said in his memoir, “Falling Into the Gap,” “but you have to be proud of what you do. At this point, I had a lot of frustration and not much pride.