Gap Taps Walmart Executive Nicole Colombo to Fix Old Navy Merchandising

Gap Inc. has hired former Walmart fashion executive Nicole Colombo to lead women's merchandising at Old Navy, its largest and most troubled banner, according to her LinkedIn page. Neither Gap Inc. nor Old Navy responded to requests for comment.

The appointment continues a leadership shakeout at a brand whose merchandising problems have proven more entrenched than Gap executives first admitted. Colombo spent the past three years as general manager of fashion at Walmart's marketplace, and before that nearly six years at eBay. The move is also a homecoming: early in her career she worked at Gap Inc., including as lead merchant for women's and petites at Banana Republic factory stores.

Why is Gap rebuilding the Old Navy team?

The numbers explain the urgency. In Q1, Gap executives flagged fashion and pricing misses after tepid growth and said the issues were being fixed quickly. In Q2, Old Navy's sales and comparable sales (a metric counting stores open at least a year) both fell 4%.

On Monday, Michael Francis takes over as Old Navy CEO, replacing Haio Barbeito. Barbeito, a former Walmart Canada CEO, ran Old Navy for four years. Francis arrived at Gap Inc. in May with dual roles, including chief customer officer at Old Navy, and previously held an advisory position at Walmart.

Analysts question whether the changes go far enough. Needham analysts led by Tom Nikic wrote last week that Gap may not be adequately addressing "the recent slowdown at Old Navy, which could be more persistent than management expects."

What is Old Navy's strategy now?

The brand is pushing into adjacent categories. It launched an activewear subbrand in September and is expanding into accessories and beauty. Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson earlier this year called these higher-margin "sleeper categories."

But the marketing playbook that revived the Gap brand may not transfer. Evercore ISI analysts led by Michael Binetti tied a surprise June traffic dip to Old Navy's shift from product-led advertising to brand campaigning.

"Traffic dropped off as marketing pivoted away from product focus to more of a brand campaign, and per GAP, once it switched back to product marketing traffic trends stabilized," Binetti said.

The episode hands Colombo and Francis a clear mandate: fix the product and pricing misses first, because Old Navy's shoppers respond to merchandise messaging, not brand storytelling. Whether the new team stabilizes traffic and comps will show up in Gap's next quarterly results.