Gap At 50: How To Grow From Jeans And LPs To A Retail Behemoth

by MR Magazine Staff

Gap, the clothing retailer that has become one of the biggest names in American casual fashion, turns 50 years old today. Doris and Don Fisher, the founders of the company, opened the first store of the retail behemoth in San Francisco in 1969 on Ocean Avenue and named it The Gap, in reference to the generation gap. The reason for opening up the store was simple: Don was unable to find a pair of jeans that fit. The store originally sold jeans from Levi Strauss & Co. and records, appealing to the counterculture movement going on in the city at the time. However, in 1974, the company decided to release its own private label clothing, which would change retail fashion in the United States. Read more at CNN Style.