When approaching the Gymboree Corporate offices off of Howard street in San Francisco I was surprised to be on ease at having my interview with the president of Gymboree. Even though I had met Kip Garcia before, it had been in a much more informal matter at a store opening. Now approaching the offices however I felt very at ease, just to find out how “ at ease” the company really is. When speaking to an employee I noticed that there were Nerf guns all around. I asked her to explain to me why it seemed that everyone had their own personal toy weapon, and she explained that the whole floor would occasionally brake out into random Nerf gun wars. That was when I knew I had nothing to fear about my soon-to-be interview.
I wanted to really find out how Kip came to be what he is now. I simply asked him how he started out in the industry, and what had made it an appealing work choice. Kip first started out as an executive trainee at Mervyn’s, from there he became a buyer, and he worked himself all the way up the ranks. A year after working for Mervyn’s he decided to venture out in the fashion industry and start up his own company, but with a bad company it did not last that long. Soon after he started to work at the DFS Galleria, which has all types of brands. He said that at the time there primary customers were travelers and the number one was the Japanese. After working there he eventually came to be the Vice President of Gap Kids in Merchandising. Now, he is currently President of all 5 brands that branch off of Gymboree including Janie and Jack, Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Crazy Eight, and Shade. After hearing about his extensive background I needed to know why the fashion world appealed to him so much, and he simply said,” I caught the bug.” Some bug I tell you because he has made it very far since where he was in the beginning. With neither a degree in fashion he said that he just liked working with the product. The passion I felt from the words he said made me appreciate how some people really love doing what they do for a living, and I can only hope that for anyone in the work industry. With all the history behind us I was curious as to how he spent his everyday in the office.
Kip explained to me that by being the President of the company he was in charge of both the merchandising and fashion design teams of the company. He explained that he spent everyday analyzing and following up on the current trends. Gymboree goes by a nine months advancement system. So whatever clothes are being designed in the moment will not appear in the stores until the following years season. When I had walked into the room I had noticed the poster boards up all around the room, which had the different patterns and designs for Back To School 2012. It made me realize that Kip not only works day by day but practically in the future, helping those around him forecast what will be the new line in 2012. As I was speaking to him about the new line I wanted to really know how the economy was impacting the stores, and their clothing.
I found out that Crazy Eight was doing great. Being one of the lower priced children stores Gymboree manages Kip said it was the “ Fastest Growing Brand in the Economy.” The bad economy however was impacting business, and it did mean that Gymboree needed to expand its factory base. My main question was if the quality in the clothing had changed, because I have always known that Gymboree was known for the high quality fabric is uses. He said that even though they had to change factories that the quality department had made sure to keep Gymboree at it’s best quality possible. His main fraise was “great quality for the price.” When saying that the stores were put on purpose next to some competitors like the Children’s Place I was curious as to why. Then he explained that by doing so the stores get traffic from all the mommies that move from store to store. Even though Janie and Jack is high end they still have competitors, but mostly with little baby boutiques and high-end department stores. I seemed to be hearing a lot about his kids clothing so I was interested in hearing how the new Shade Company was doing. This online store developed around Gymboree moms in their mid 30’s, who wanted to look “ put together, and perfect” , was first coming out the day of my interview. The site had opened that morning so there is only the future to tell how the success and growth of the company will be. However, Kip did say that if Shade was doing very well there might be an actual store for it in the future. The next step, being a store, also included adding different categories like accessories to this classical feel of this clothing. He said that Shade needed to be Fashionable, Fit, Flattering, and valuable. When asked what was word he thought of when thinking about Gymboree, Kip corrected me and said,” It’s a phrase, Letting kids be kids.”
Kip wanted himself and his company to take to heart being a kid, and making it more about family. This and snack time made for some very fun employees. That is what he said he encourages, that sense of fun. Kip professed that,” It was kid’s clothes, not rocket science.” That too me made him very down to earth, and I felt happy to have met and been able to speak with someone so warm and welcoming. You can now keep in touch with the company through Facebook and the Gymboree forum, Gymborebels. All in all I was happy to have gotten this insight on the fashion industry. From coming such a ways Kip Garcia really seemed to be happy doing what he does, and being able to share with me was a great inspiration. For the future who knows what will happen, maybe one of Kip’s fashion forecasters could tell us, but for now we will just have to see.
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