Gap ousted Marka Hansen, the president of its struggling namesake stores in North America, following a lackluster holiday season and last year’s botched effort to redesign the retailer’s logo.

The San Francisco-based mall giant — whose CEO Glenn Murphy said yesterday the ouster followed “several conversations” between him and Hansen — signaled it will name a company insider to lead the North American Gap division today.

Gap declined to comment further. But sources said frontrunners to replace Hansen included Art Peck, a Harvard-educated veteran of the Boston Consulting Group who currently leads the company’s outlet division, and who is also executive vice president of strategy and operations.

In selecting the next leader for Gap’s North American stores, one source said Gap was determined to hire a company veteran who is “able to hit the ground running” in an effort to revive sales sooner rather than later.

Another leading candidate for the job was Tom Wyatt, who currently leads the company’s Old Navy division.

Industry insiders likewise speculated that the job might go to Mark Breitbard, executive vice president of the company’s babyGap and GapKids divisions.

Breitbard got his start at Gap in the late 1990s as an assistant to Mickey Drexler, when the legendary merchant was still at the helm of the company. Since then, Breitbard has done stints outside Gap, including a top position at Abercrombie & Fitch where he led an unsuccessful effort to jumpstart the now-defunct Ruehl chain.

Another possibility was Pam Wallack, head of the Gap Adult and Body division during the past year.

Hansen, a 24-year company veteran, had pledged to make Gap’s fashions more “sexy” and “cool” when she took the helm of the division four years ago.

Nevertheless, one source close to the company said Hansen’s reputation was that of a relatively conservative executive who ended up veering toward overly “safe” fashions.