Pros
Fantastic work life balance. Late nights to finish a deliverable before a presentation were rare - once a quarter at most. Employee discount. I love Banana Republic and Gap kids, so the 50% discount at the specialty stores and 30% off outlet/factory was incredible. 12 weeks paternity leave (6 weeks fully paid, 6 weeks at 50% pay)
Cons
The company laid people off in an effort to flatten the organization, and on the same day, VPs announce new Senior Directors/backfill roles, thus adding back layers. Leadership has no clue the direction they want to go. Each brand operates in its own silo. It makes sense for each brand to have a different strategy since they serve different customers, but internally, it's ridiculous each brand uses its own terminology for the same roles and even different templates for presentations. Directors lack confidence. Competitors like Abercrombie and Fitch are performing better than us, despite the recession. People are still shopping, even if they're pulling back. They are just spending money on stylish clothing. Gap's clothes are boring and uninspired. The Dap and Brooklyn Circus showed signs of creativity and style, but then Gap drops a Barbie line that's just pink Barbie in the Gap logo. My spouse perfectly described the line- "Barbie would never wear these". Banana Republic did well and released great collections in 2022, but then dropped a turd with the Western inspired line. It looks like a poorly copied version of Double RL. Old Navy went overboard with the inclusivity and seems to have never recovered.