Could Alan Barocas be the most influential man in the Marketplaces Industry?
He spent much of his career in Gap Inc.’s real estate department, which at its height employed 80-plus people. Alumni have gone on to work at real estate departments for retailers like American Eagle, Anthropologie, Aritzia, Cava, Free People, Levi Strauss & Co., Lululemon, Panera, Sephora and Williams Sonoma; for owners and development firms like Tanger and WS Development; and for brokerage firms like SRS Real Estate Partners.
These alumni gather annually, but rarely do they devote their reunions to honoring just one among them. Barocas is the exception to that rule, a mentor who influenced them all.
“Alan was a big part of making each one of us who we are. …We all point back to Alan as our mentor.”
The annual Gap Inc. alumni confab started in 2005 as a happy hour coinciding with ICSC’s New York conference and grew into a dinner hosted by WS Development. This past December, the dinner attendees looked around and realized Barocas had hired them all — and yet he wasn’t there. They decided to throw a long-overdue retirement party and formed a planning committee. “We said: ‘Let’s fly Alan out to Vegas since he doesn’t go anymore, and let’s throw him this tribute,’” SRS Real Estate Partners senior vice president and principal Dawn Greiner explained, referencing the annual ICSC LAS VEGAS industry gathering.
Thus, 40 Gap Inc. real estate alumni gathered on May 19 at Joe’s Stone Crab, coinciding with ICSC LAS VEGAS, for a dinner themed Forever in Blue Jeans. The theme was a nod to the Neil Diamond song of the same name and a 2001 Gap television ad featuring it.
Gap Inc. real estate alumni gathered in Las Vegas in May to honor Alan Barocas, standing in the center of the front row. The planning committee for the gathering was made up of SRS Real Estate Partners senior vice president and principal Dawn Greiner, McDevitt central region vice president Staci Joyce, Levi Strauss & Co. vice president of real estate for the U.S. and Canada Carol Joyner, WS Development executive vice president of leasing Mark Roberts, Claire’s vice president of real estate and construction Jerald Estime, and Tanger president and CEO Stephen Yalof. In the front row, Greiner is at far left, Joyce is fourth from left and Joyner is seventh from left. In the second row, Roberts is second from left. In the third row, Estime is at far right. In the back row, Yalof is third from left.
Barocas, a former ICSC trustee, worked in Gap Inc.’s real estate department from 1986 through 2006. He became senior vice president of real estate and construction in 2000 and led the physical expansion of its Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy divisions during their turnarounds in 2002 and 2003. He left Gap in 2006, worked solo until 2011 and then joined GGP, from which he retired as senior executive vice president of leasing in 2017, before its 2018 acquisition by Brookfield Property Partners. He then served on the advisory board of retailer Lolli & Pops from July 2017 until February 2019.
Greiner, who worked at Gap Inc. for 11 years, said: “Alan was a big part of making each one of us who we are. The Gap real estate department launched so many other brands. The cornerstones of Gap went on to run other retailers’ real estate departments. We all point back to Alan as our mentor.”
The group will return to its regular dinner meeting coinciding with ICSC NEW YORK this December, this time co-hosted by WS Development and Tanger.
The theme of the May 19 celebration was Forever in Blue Jeans, and many came decked in Gap denim to reflect on their days at the company and pay homage to their mentor.
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today