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Gap
GAPGap is a successful worldwide chain of clothing stores, with many divisions, each of which sells variations of basic casual clothes. In 1969 Donald and Doris Fisher opened a small clothing and record store in San Francisco. Seven years later the company had grown enough to begin selling its stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, and the next year it opened a charitable foundation. In 1983 Millard Drexler became the company president. One of his first acts was to buy a small travel clothing store called Banana Republic, which became a profitable division of Gap, Incorporated, selling up-scale "casual luxury" clothing. Over the next decades the company opened GapShoes, GapKids, and BabyGap. GapBody opened to sell underwear and sleepwear, and Old Navy, which opened in 1994 and is owned by Gap, sold discount casuals for the whole family. Since the 1980s the Gap has become a multi-billion-dollar business and a household word marketing such basics as T-shirts, blue jeans, and sweaters. Gap stores are designed to be accessible to busy shoppers who want to buy fashionable clothes cheaply. The stores are easy to recognize, as every Gap store has the same basic design and layout. The stores specialize in offering a few basic designs in a wide variety of trendy colors, and they receive whole new lines of clothing seven or eight times a year, making sure that the colors and styles stay up-to-date. Beginning in 1987 Gap began to open the first of several hundred stores around the world. Not surprisingly, a Gap store in Paris, France, looks exactly like a Gap in New York or Hong Kong. Critics of the Gap disapprove of this mass production and marketing of fashion, claiming that it damages individuality with everyone buying the exact same clothes from the exact same store everywhere in the world. Others dislike the huge stores, which often change the tone and personality of the neighborhoods in which they are located. They say that because Gap is part of a large corporation it can sell clothes at lower prices, which drives smaller, locally owned stores out of business. Still others have called on Gap to take responsibility for the poor working conditions at the clothing factories in Mexico, Asia, and Central America where the company buys the clothes it sells. Regardless of the views on the chain, Gap continued to be a success into the twenty-first century. |
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"Gap." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gap." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3425500633.html "Gap." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3425500633.html |
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gap
gap
1. (asset–liability gap) A measure of interest-rate risk used in banking. It comprises the difference between rate-sensitive assets (i.e. loans) and rate-sensitive liabilities (i.e. deposits) within a particular range of repricing time periods. If short-term rate-sensitive assets are greater than short-term liabilities, the gap will lead to a situation in which an interest-rate fall will lower the profitability and value of a bank. See also mismatch. 2. Any disparity between goals, expectations, or requirements on the one hand and the actual situation on the other, as between the predicted and actual performance of a business or business unit or between consumer expectations and the quality of goods or services supplied. See servqual; strategic gap analysis. |
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"gap." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gap." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O18-gap.html "gap." A Dictionary of Business and Management. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O18-gap.html |
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gap
gap / gap/ • n. 1. a break or hole in an object or between two objects: he came through the gap in the hedge. ∎ a pass or way through a range of hills. 2. an unfilled space or interval; a break in continuity: there are many gaps in our understanding of what happened. ∎ a difference, esp. an undesirable one, between two views or situations: the media were bridging the gap between government and people. DERIVATIVES: gapped adj. gap·py adj. |
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"gap." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gap." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-gap.html "gap." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-gap.html |
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Gap
Gap , city (1990 pop. 35,647), capital of Hautes-Alpes dept., SE France, on the Luye River at the foot of the Dauphiné Alps. A center for tourism, Gap is an agricultural market that manufactures clothing, wood products, and construction materials. Founded by Augustus c.14 BC, it was the capital of medieval Gapençais, which was annexed to the crown of France in 1512. The city was devastated during the Wars of Religion (16th cent.). |
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"Gap." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Gap." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gap.html "Gap." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gap.html |
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gap
gap Transverse valley that cuts through a ridge. It is termed a water gap when occupied by a stream; otherwise it is a wind gap. It may be a relic of an early stage in the development of a drainage pattern.
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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-gap.html AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-gap.html |
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gap
gap In alignment of nucleic acid or amino acid sequences, the introduction of spaces in one sequence to account for deletions in that sequence or insertions in another.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-gap.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "gap." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-gap.html |
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gap
gap breach in a defence XIV; opening in a mountain range; unfilled space XVI. — ON. gap chasm, rel. to gapa GAPE.
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T. F. HOAD. "gap." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "gap." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-gap.html T. F. HOAD. "gap." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-gap.html |
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gap
gap
•bap, cap, chap, clap, crap, dap, entrap, enwrap, flap, frap, gap, giftwrap, hap, Jap, knap, lap, Lapp, map, nap, nappe, pap, rap, sap, schappe, scrap, slap, snap, strap, tap, trap, wrap, yap, zap
•stopgap • mayhap • mishap • madcap
•blackcap • redcap • kneecap
•handicap
•nightcap, whitecap
•snowcap, toecap
•foolscap • hubcap • skullcap
•dunce cap • handclap • dewlap
•mudflap • thunderclap • burlap
•bitmap • catnap • kidnap • Saranwrap
•mantrap • claptrap • deathtrap
•chinstrap • jockstrap • mousetrap
•bootstrap • suntrap • firetrap
•heeltap
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"gap." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gap." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-gap.html "gap." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-gap.html |
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GAP
GAP (gæp) general assembly programme
• Great American Public |
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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "GAP." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "GAP." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-GAP.html FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "GAP." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-GAP.html |
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