• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Tuesday, January 23, 2007 1:15 PM

Gap Inc. yesterday announced that former Disney executive Paul Pressler and its board had mutually agreed that he should step down as CEO, as well as resign his seat on the board of the San Francisco-based apparel retailer. The company said it would seek a retail expert to lead it.

Pressler's emphasis on consumer research was considered well intentioned, but a deluge of data on Gap customers, competitors and consumer-spending hampered designers' creativity, according to one former Gap executive. The result was designs that year after year were overshadowed by those of nimbler rivals.

During top managers' final reviews of the products for an upcoming season, according to one account, Pressler simply asked questions about the merchandise. After he left the room, his charges huddled and, like Kremlinologists, tried to deconstruct his remarks and reinterpret them as orders. As a result, they frequently fussed over trivial issues and a larger sense of direction never became clear.

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