WMT Walmart Inc

By Micah Maidenberg 

Gap Inc. said it promoted the head of Old Navy to be its chief executive and appointed a board member to take over as board chairman from Bob Fisher, one of the sons of the company's founders.

Sonia Syngal, who will take over the CEO position at Gap effective March 23, joined the company in 2004 and served in a variety of executive roles before taking on the top job at Old Navy in April 2016, according to a filing. Ms. Syngal boosted the brand's store footprint in North America and developed its e-commerce capabilities, Gap said Thursday.

She will replace Mr. Fisher, who has been serving in that role on an interim basis.

The company said Bobby Martin -- the former top executive of Walmart Inc.'s international business and a Gap board member since 2002 -- will take over as executive chairman on March 23. Mr. Fisher currently holds that position.

About a year ago, Gap said it planned to spin off Old Navy into a separately traded public company, but jettisoned those plans in January, saying the split would have been too expensive and complex to pull off.

Gap has struggled to bolster sales, though Old Navy has been a relatively bright spot until more recently.

The company also said Thursday that Elizabeth Smith, the former CEO of Bloomin' Brands Inc., and Amy Miles, the former CEO of Regal Entertainment Group, will join its board.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2020 18:00 ET (23:00 GMT)

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