Operations
12 July 2022
CEO Sonia Syngal is the latest executive to leave Gap Inc.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Walmart Canada is stepping in to lead Old Navy.

Sonia Syngal. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Meanwhile, the CEO of Walmart Canada is stepping in to lead Old Navy.
Sonia Syngal. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
The news: Sonia Syngal will step down as CEO of Gap Inc., the apparel company announced on Monday. Syngal is set to remain only for a brief transition. Meanwhile, board chair and former Walmart International CEO Bob Martin will step into the CEO role on an interim basis. There were no immediate plans announced for the addition of a permanent CEO at Gap Inc., which owns the brands Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta.
New leader at Old Navy: Along with Syngal’s departure, Gap Inc. announced that Horacio “Haio” Barbeito will become CEO of Old Navy, effective August 1. Barbeito comes to Old Navy from Walmart, where he worked for 26 years. Most recently, he served as CEO of Walmart Canada, and previously led the retailer’s Argentina and Chile business. Barbeito succeeds Nancy Green, who left the top role at Old Navy in April.
Key quote: “With an exceptional and industry-leading CEO for Old Navy now appointed, I am thankful to have the board’s support in stepping down, ushering in a new opportunity for fresh perspective and rejuvenated leadership to carry Gap Inc. forward,” Syngal said in the announcement.
The backstory: An 18-year veteran of Gap Inc., Syngal stepped into the CEO role in 2020 after herself leading Old Navy. She was credited with turning around that brand, which is Gap Inc.'s largest, during her time at the helm. But it is struggles at Old Navy that have marked her final months as CEO.
While Gap did not give a reason for the departure, issues at Old Navy were in focus on the company's first quarter earnings call. In the quarter ended April 30, the company reported that revenue was down 13% year-over-year overall, and a loss of $162 million. Online sales were down 17%. As a result, the company cut its outlook for the year. Gap Inc.’s recent challenges are a mix of internal and external factors:
The numbers: Along with the announcement of the personnel change, Gap Inc. laid out several projections Monday for the just-completed second quarter of 2022. As previously detailed, the company said it expects net sales to decrease in the high single-digit range, while incurring $50 million in costs for air freight and inflation. In new projections, the company expects that additional costs for promotion to rebalance inventory will have a negative effect on gross margin, while it now expects adjusted operating margin percentage to be zero to slightly negative. Full results will be reported on August 25.
Still, plans to buy big-ticket items ticked up.
“Deterioration.” “Gloomy.”
Those were a couple of the words used to describe consumer confidence in May. The Conference Board reported that the index fell to a six-month low amid debt ceiling anxiety and increasing concerns about employment.
“Consumer confidence declined in May as consumers’ view of current conditions became somewhat less upbeat while their expectations remained gloomy,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics at the Conference Board, in a statement. “...While consumer confidence has fallen across all age and income categories over the past three months, May’s decline reflects a particularly notable worsening in the outlook among consumers over 55 years of age.”
The dip among those over 55 came as Congress negotiated a deal over increasing the debt ceiling that included talk of cuts to programs such as social security and Medicare. While officials reached an agreement over Memorial Day weekend, the Conference Board’s survey was fielded prior to that date.
The job picture appears to be more anecdotally cloudy, as the number of consumers reporting jobs as “plentiful” fell to four percentage points to 43.5%. The job market has been consistently robust for nearly three years, as unemployment remains near historic lows. In April, the economy added 253,000 jobs, which remained a positive sign despite being below the gains of prior months. The confidence reading comes ahead of fresh data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
Despite the declines, there were signs that consumers are not completely pulling back on big-ticket items. Plans to buy big-ticket items such as cars and appliances ticked up on a monthly basis. It’s worth watching whether this extends to providing resilience in other discretionary categories, which have seen a pullback in early 2023.
Nevertheless, the index offered another sign that the consumer mood is getting more pessimistic. It was the fourth time in five months that confidence fell. On Friday, the University of Michigan offered another with a consumer sentiment report that showed a 7% dip.
Brands and retailers must work to reach consumers that are increasingly in less of a buying mood than the month before.