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Employees | Our program in action
Erika: Bold ideas
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Summary: Erika Kiesling’s “bold idea” reduced waste and saved Gap Inc. thousands of dollars in annualized costs.
Erika Kiesling had a “bold idea.”
As a general manager of Gap store #641 in Princeton, N.J., she noticed the similarities between the “charge/send” boxes and the small accessory boxes that her store receives in weekly stock shipments.
Her idea: Why not just remove the labels from the small accessory boxes and reuse them for charge/send boxes — instead of ordering new ones?
“I thought this would save my store and the company money,” Erika says. “And it makes me feel good about recycling and reusing the accessory boxes in an environmentally-conscious way. I knew if even half of the Gap North America fleet would join in doing this, we could save trees, reduce waste, and save the company thousands of dollars at the same time.”
Erika’s idea — eliminating charge/send boxes from the company’s purchase order system — saved Gap Inc. approximately $100,000 in annualized costs for charge/send supplies. It also supports Gap Inc.'s broader strategy to reduce output and waste.
Erika is a winner of Gap brand’s Bold Ideas initiative, a 2008 program that recognized Gap store employees whose ideas were implemented in fiscal 2008 and reduced expenses for the brand.
Her suggestion was among more than 400 cost-savings proposals submitted by U.S. and Canada Gap store employees. It was implemented across the Gap North America store fleet in 2008.
Erika, who has been with Gap for nearly 15 years, says she feels like she has “grown up” with the brand, so her passion is deep-rooted. In recognition of her idea, Erika received a check for a percentage of the cost-savings.
“It delights me to know that my thoughts and ideas are valued by my company. I think this collaborative approach to business between the stores and headquarters will allow us to run our business smarter and more effectively.”
