Gap co-founder dies

Donald G. Fisher, co-founder of Gap Inc., died Sunday in San Francisco. He was 81 and had been battling cancer.

Fisher, a third-generation San Fransiscan, founded his first store with his wife, Doris, in San Francisco 40 years ago last month on Aug. 21, 1969, according to Fashion Wire Daily. With $63,000 and a mission to provide customers with a large array of sizes and styles of jeans, they called the store The Gap – named for “the generation gap” – setting out to solve a problem inspired by their own experience of not being able to find a well-fitting pair of jeans.

In August 2009, the company launched a premium jeans collection, called 1969, in homage to the company’s heritage and 40th anniversary with a newly revised and expanded range of denim offerings.

Gap Inc. became a multi-national retail chain with more than 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland, with a company roster that includes not only Gap, but Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta.