Gap Inc

Anti-billboard activists have a new target: multi-story "supergraphic" signs plastered illegally on about three dozen buildings citywide. A handful of West Los Angeles activists joined City Councilman Jack Weiss on West Pico Boulevard at Overland Avenue on Thursday morning to call for hefty fines against those who post the signs. Their backdrop: a Gap Inc. supergraphic with a blond model reclining across several stories of an office building in the 10000 block of West Pico Boulevard.

The theme of Gap's holiday ad campaign suited the season. It was, as the company put it, about "spreading peace and love." What it failed to spread, however, was what Gap Inc. really needed: stronger sales and profit. The gloomy holiday results reported Thursday by the parent of 3,200 Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores have again raised questions about the fate of Paul Pressler, who has been chief executive of the San Francisco-based retailer for more than four years.

Gap Inc. has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., sources familiar with the matter said Monday, stoking investor hopes the struggling apparel retailer could be up for sale and sending its shares up as much as 11%. The two sources said Gap, with a market capitalization of more than $15 billion, hired Goldman last month, but it was unclear exactly what the bank was hired to do.

Gap Inc. said Wednesday that two executives at its most troubled divisions, Gap Adult and Old Navy, were leaving the San Francisco clothier. The nation's largest specialty retailer, which also operates Banana Republic and Forth & Towne, has suffered plummeting sales for more than two years, threatening the tenure of Chief Executive Paul Pressler. Pressler, a former Walt Disney Co. executive, has led the company for four years.

Gap Inc., which ousted its chief executive Monday, faces major challenges as the nation's largest specialty retailer seeks to win back customers who once flocked to its stores. In the months ahead, the San Francisco-based parent of 3,200 Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores needs to wrench the company from an extended and brutal sales slump. "Whoever they bring in is really going to have their work cut out for them," said Timothy Allen, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York.

In the days since Gap Inc. ousted its chief executive, Wall Street has continued to ruminate about the nation's largest specialty retailer's problems and its need to win back customers. Shoppers, likewise, have plenty to say about how the parent company of 3,200 Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores could woo them back and end a continuing sales slump. Just ask the women at Yoga Works in Costa Mesa.

Gap Inc. on Thursday replaced Cynthia Harriss, president of the clothing chain's Gap North America division, with Marka Hansen, a 20-year company veteran. Hansen, 53, president of the retailer's Banana Republic unit, took over from Harriss immediately, the company said. Hansen will report to interim Chief Executive Robert Fisher. Harriss, 54, is the first executive to resign since former CEO Paul Pressler quit last month.

The nation's largest specialty apparel retailer, Gap Inc., mired in an extended sales slump, staunched its losing streak in January as retailers Thursday reported solid sales. Some retailers cited January's cold snap as a sales booster. But Quiksilver Inc. said an unseasonably warm winter and poor snow conditions in the U.S. and Europe had a decidedly different effect on its sale of ski gear.

Beleaguered Gap Inc. is riveting its attention on its largest chains as it prepares to shutter its Forth & Towne stores, a division launched just 18 months ago to attract baby boomers. The San Francisco-based parent of about 3,100 Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores said Monday that the new chain wasn't "demonstrating enough potential to deliver an acceptable long-term return on investment." Forth & Towne operates 19 stores nationwide, including four in the Southland.

Gap Inc. said profit fell for a sixth straight quarter after it increased discounts to help clear out unsold clothes at Old Navy and its namesake stores. Earnings and sales exceeded analysts' estimates, and Gap said it was close to hiring a search firm to find a replacement for former Chief Executive Paul Pressler. The company plans to open about 230 stores this year, mostly Old Navy locations, and shut about 200 sites, mostly Gap stores.