After completing his military service in South Africa in 1978, Gary ventured to Philadelphia to attend textile school, majoring in Textile Engineering.
In 1982, Peck started his career as the first Nike apparel expat to go to South East Asia and set up their development and sourcing operation. After 4 years in Asia, Gary came back to the US and headed up Nike’s design and development division. This design group drove the industry’s first signature apparel lines ranging from the greats of Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, John McEnroe, and Alberto Salazar, just to mention a few.
In 1989, Adidas recruited Peck to head up Global Design and Development. With this new position stationed in Europe, the ultimate intent was to dissolve 4 vertical infrastructures (in the UK, France, Japan, and The USA) into one cohesive, all-encompassing brand strategic force in Germany. One world, and one brand was then developed.
After 3 years in Europe, Peck returned to the US to head up the North American Apparel Division. Over a period of 9 years, he grew sales from $60 million to $850 million. Gross margin increased by 8%, close outs decreased from 25% to 3%, and inventory turns increased from 2.5 to 4. This was all supported by a 3 tier distribution strategy that gave different channels of retail product exclusivity.
In 2000, The S Group was created. Peck saw 3 untruths in the industry; Design DNA needed to be aligned with brand story, innovation and engineering needed to drive product, and supply chain needed to eliminate 50% of the lead-time in the go-to market calendar. The vision then is more applicable 18 years later.
Gary has a degree in textile Engineering from Jefferson University (Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science) and an executive MBA from the University of Oregon.