The Ledger, every show
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks, across all 44 shows. Pick shows below, then mix any filter with any other.
shows 
every show 44 of 44
Franchise revenues and low royalties could not sustain Gymboree's operational support costs
“I realized that the franchise model was flawed. That no matter how many franchises we had, it wasn't about scale. The revenues that the franchisees generated, and therefore the percent that they would give us of their revenues, was never going to be sustainabl…”
Gap founder Don Fisher rejected Gymboree because GapKids was launching in six months
“He said, it's a great idea, Joan, but you need to know we're opening Gap Kids in six months.”
Gymboree's lead investor refused to replace CEO Joan Barnes due to favorable press
“I said to the board, or said to my main investor, I am going to let these people go as you, as we both know they need to. Do you think it maybe it's that you want to replace me too, because I, I'd be down for this. No, the press loves you. Everybody thinks you…”
Joan Barnes sold 70% of her Gymboree stock for $1M before IPO
“I said, Stuart, I'm like any other entrepreneur. I want a million dollars. And he said, okay, well, there is no public market for it. I'm going to leave you with 30%, and I'll take 70%.”
Joan Barnes convinced Marin JCC to fund $5,000 for toddler play equipment
“First I had to convince the board to put up, I think it was 5000 dollars to buy this stuff, whatever the stuff was, but I didn't know, I didn't have it priced out because it wasn't like going through catalogs and saying.”
Joan Barnes claims she was California's first individual business franchisor
“I was probably the first person, not a corporation, franchising.”
Stuart Moldaw invested $300,000 for 30% of Gymboree at $1M valuation
“He tells me he's going to put up 300,000 dollars for 30% of the company. He values the company a million dollars, which is sort of ridiculous, I think, but whatever And he put up the 300,000 and said, you go for it.”
High-performing early Gymboree franchise locations generated roughly $250,000 in annual revenue
“Each location would maybe pull in, a good one would maybe pull in a quarter of a million, maybe.”
Gymboree lost all early brand licensing partners within 18 months due to low sales
“Probably a year later, maybe a year and a half later, we were dropped by all of them... Because we didn't have the sales.”
Hasbro considered a corporate investment and potential outright acquisition of Gymboree
“Yeah, so first they just thought they were going to do a corporate investment, and then they thought they would buy the company.”
During a cash crisis, Gymboree staff took 50% pay cuts; Barnes took 75%
“We laid people off, and the one, those of us who remained in the, I called it the life raft, we all took 50% pay cuts. I took a 75% pay cut, and everybody hung in there.”
Lead investor Stuart Moldaw funded Gymboree's retail pivot via a bridge loan
“The next day, the lead investor called me, the guy that put in the first 300,000 dollars, and he would, he said, Joan, I always believed in you. We'll give you a bridge loan, get over to Hong Kong, produce the line, and when you get back, you'll find a locatio…”
Gymboree's first two mall locations achieved highest sales per square foot in 1986
“We were, we did the highest dollars per square foot in both malls of any other store during that holiday season.”
Gymboree raised $6 million in funding within a year of retail launch
“Within the next year, we raised, Six million dollars.”
Gymboree's stock surged 58% on its first day of public trading
“It went up 58% on the first day of trading.”
Joan Barnes: 1973 was the lowest US birth year in modern history
“1973 was the lowest birth year Since forever.”
Early Gymboree classes oversold immediately following initial press coverage
“From the, that, that press story, we were oversold right away.”
Gymboree secured early product licensing deals with Random House and Connor Toys
“We had Random House doing our books, Health Text, which was kind of a cool brand for clothing. They ran, they did a clothing line for us. We also had Connor Toys did Some really like a big climbing gym that you'd put in your... And it was sold in Toys R Us.”