Generations

Don did …

Don was 40 and a successful real estate developer. He was looking for a pair of Levis in the local department store … but they did not have his size … and Don realised an opportunity.

Jeans were becoming incredibly popular with the younger generation who were looking at things differently than older generations were … maybe a small store devoted to younger people could be successful. So, together with his wife, they opened one in one of the buildings he owned near a university.

With no experience in retailing, they initially stocked the store with music as well as jeans … but no one seemed to notice the jeans … and pretty soon they were close to bankruptcy … but after putting ads in the local paper advertising super low prices the jeans were soon all gone.

Things started looking up after that for Don and his wife as they opened a series of small stores devoted to this younger generation.

Today, the retail chain Don created when he could not find the right size jeans has over 3,000 stores and 130,000 employees worldwide … and is still named after the differences between older and younger generations … the generation gap … or “The Gap” for short.

The Gap is a Great Idea because serving your target market really well is the first step to success.