Abercrombie and Fitch Case Study

American Eagle is defying a slump in teen retail, with sales rising 11% in the most recent quarter. The retailer has been taking several steps to avoid slipping sales, Phil Wahba of Fortune reports. A crucial component of this is avoiding heavily discounted clothing — a trend that's hurting competitors Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale. While shoppers love discounts and good sales, too many of them can be detrimental for retailers. Constant heavy discounts can condition consumers to not want to pay full price.

Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), an American retailer that concentrates on upscale casual wear for young consumers, which was founded in Manhattan, New York City in June 4, 1892 by two young minds of David T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch. Beginning with a rough journey of selling sporting outfits and excursion goods such as fishing and hunting equipment, A&F had to file bankruptcy in 1977. Soon thereafter, the company was revived after Jake Oshman, owner of Oshman Sporting Goods, bought A&F in 1978. A&F was relaunched as a mail-retailer company specializing in hunting wear and novelty items, but was bought by The Limited ten years after its revival. The gradual shift to focusing on apparels for young consumers began when A&F was a subsidiary of Limited Brands, and since then, A&F has grown to become one of the largest apparel firms in the United States. In 1998, A&F launched Abercrombie Kids, targeting consumers from age 7-14, which further increases its revenue. In 1999 to early 2000s, A&F’s sales skyrocketed as it hit its zenith, by portraying A&F clothing as the “coolest thing” through billboard-winning song that compliments A&F in the lyrics, as well as other advertisements. Furthermore, A&F launched a subsidiary called Hollister to tackle similar age group of target audience but with lower income. This expansion to dominate the market of teenagers through consideration of other demographic factor, namely income, was exceptional for A&F’s revenue. Presently, A&F focused on

Then next week I was reading the Star Tribune newspaper when I came across and editorial written about Abercrombie and Fitch. The author was disgusted with the store because of its blatant promotion of college-age drinking. The issue came up in one of A&F's quarterly "magazines". Instead of sending out free catalogs of their merchandise to customers, A&F sells a retail "magazine" which they distribute four times a year for the small fee of five dollars per issue. The magazine is filled with pictures similar to the life-size ones which cover the store walls -- tan, beautiful and

Back when Abercrombie & Fitch first opened the high priced items of outdoor gear was something that people were really willing to purchase; it was in high demand, but as times gone on, people are not purchasing those kinds of items any more and especially not with such high prices. Abercrombie & Fitch will not give it up and change to something that is in higher demand these days. They are mainly focused on their image, which is not always good. As time goes on, trends and interests change, which Abercrombie & Fitch does not understand. Of course, image is important through a company, but it is definitely not the most important part of a business when trying to develop success. Their dedication to their image is a routine operating problem. They are never going to change because it has gone on for so long. If a new CEO comes in, maybe the recurring problem may change, but other than that the problem is continuing and still continues

Founded in 1977, American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) is a retailer that designs and develops fashionable girls’ and boys’ apparel and accessories. The company’s target audience is boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. The target audience seeks trendy and fashionable apparel product that meets a high standard of quality at an affordable price point. As of the most recent fiscal year, ended January 30, 2010, American Eagle held 1,103 retail stores in total, operating under the “American Eagle”, “Aerie”, and “Martin+Osa” brand names respectively. In addition to the retail stores,

To begin, one of the largest questions asked about Abercrombie & Fitch would be is marketing adult-style undergarments unethical? Producing and advertising thong-style underwear for 10-16 year olds is definitely unethical to a certain extent. There are many moral principles that

involving religious discrimination. A&F was in court in 2015 for refusing to hire a Muslim

The retail company Abercrombie and Fitch was founded in 1892, by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch. Originally it was a high-end sporting retailer that focused on golf, hunting and fishing. In 1976 the company file for chapter 11 bankruptcy, for years following the company struggled to get by. After twelve years in 1988, Abercrombie and Fitch was acquired The Limit Co. It was repositioned as an upscale casual clothing wear for young adults. Abercrombie and Fitch grew to have three additional brands: Hollister Co., Abercrombie Kids, and Gilly Hicks. During the early 2000s the brands grew. It grew a reputation for its controversial advertising campaign with having young adults posing together with very little clothing.

Hollister performed well for the company in the last reported quarter despite a challenging retail environment, a trend which is expected to continue in the first quarter as well. However, for Abercrombie, the brand has not been able to overcome the challenges posed by the apparel market, which is expected to result in a slower than expected progress of the brand revitalization plans. The company’s flagship and tourist stores are anticipated to weigh heavily on the results, as a result of the persisting traffic headwinds.

Under Jeffries management Abercrombie and Fitch’s image was controversial due to his statements of exclusivity of plus size women and hiring based on physical attractiveness. The company faced a couple of lawsuits based of racial discriminatory hiring practices of minorities, favoring predominately white applicants that represent the “Abercrombie look”. Jeffries targeted audience was “the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends” and the “cool, good-looking people” excluding anyone who didn’t fit this image (the balance). In the 90s and early 2000s the brand was infamous for its black and white sexualized ads and shirtless male models on shopping bags and outside store openings and events. After Jeffries stepped down from A&F, the brand has been attempting to rebranding itself. Although, some changes have been made to its in-store locations and advisements, A&F sales continue to decrease. In March 2017, A&F announced the closing of sixty stores in the States closing by the end of the year due to poor

COMPANY PROFILE Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is a leading specialty retailer encompassing three concepts Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie, and Hollister Co. The company focuses on providing high-quality merchandise that compliments the casual classic American lifestyle. The merchandise is sold in retail stores throughout the United States and through catalogs. The company also operates an e-commerce website at www.abercrombie.com, a kids website at www.abercrombiekids.com, and publishes a magalog called the A&F Quarterly. Abercrombie & Fitch, which targets ages 18 through college, went public in October 1996 and spun-off from The Limited in May 1998. abercrombie kids (ages 7 - 14) was

The retailer announced their decision to continue a plethora of store closings after suffering a $63 million loss for Q1 of 2015, worsened by the fact that their losses exceeded the expectations of market analysts (Investopedia). Following the absence of CEO Mike Jeffries as of June 2015, Abercrombie’s stock dipped to its nearly annual low of $19 per share. The company continues to increase promotional efforts while offering uncharacteristic discounts in an effort to lure consumers back into their stores despite weakening profit margins. Abercrombie & Fitch has also furthered its efforts to expand and improve its e-commerce site to develop a more user-friendly shopping experience in the wake of over 200 required store closings nationally. While Abercrombie’s Executive Chairman, Arthur Martinez, attributes the company’s losses to a transitional phase that will likely take several quarters to reflect results of their strategic efforts, analysts continue to suggest that its unlikely consumers will return to the brand despite its new incentives (Forbes Contributor). Currently, Abercrombie’s dismal annual report and small scale efforts to rebrand itself makes it a risky investment option, albeit has potential to improve in the future given their focus on improving their online presence and providing a better return for investors.

Hollister, often called Hollister or HCo is a widely popular retail brand of products including logo tees, knits, shirts, sweaters, jeans, pants, shorts, outerwear, winter wear, tanks, sleepwear; necklaces, bracelets, caps, hats, scarves, totes, belts, and flip flops. It offers colognes, perfumes, lip shine and gloss products, lip balms, and body care products, as well as gift cards. Best known for its California vibe, Hollister is one of the most popular brands of clothes worn by teens ages 14-18. Hollister is owned by the American fashion brand known for its trendy & collegiate-inspired casualwear & accessories, Abercrombie & Fitch. Hollister is one of many A&F’s subsidiaries. A&F classifies their company as an “upscale American retailer that focuses on upscale casual wear for young consumers.” Just like Hollister, A&F does very well in the retail market. Two of the most known brands worn by the average teenager as of today. Although their company is doing relatively well, A&F previous CEO, Mike Jeffries has stepped down last year due to the significant remarks he said during an interview. “"A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong," Jeffries famously said in the Salon interview. "Are we exclusionary? Absolutely." This sickened many customers. According to Arthur Martinez, On Monday, Dec. 8, Jeffries didn’t arrive at work in his black Range Rover. He didn’t come into work that day. Early the next

One of the industries main weaknesses is the fact that they have a low industry ratio. Furthermore, one of their issues in past years was being geographically impotent in their retail locations, but as mentioned before, this issue is declining due to the fact that more locations are being opened worldwide.

The idea of this product is to give the target market sector which are guys and females between the ages of 14 and 20 years of age dress that permits them to be agreeable and easygoing while as yet looking in trendy and stylish and keeping up a feeling of an extravagant lifestyle. By simply acquiring the things the buyers are typifying the Abercrombie and Fitch proverb of "casual luxury". It falls under the heterogeneous shopping item class, since all things sold by Abercrombie and Fitch are exclusively purchased because of buyers individual inclinations. There are whatever other brand that offer the same or comparable items, some at a great deal lower costs, yet the purchaser buys Abercrombie items because of individual inclination. For example, I personally love its jeans the way it fits on me. The objective business sector falls between those ages since 14 years of age is normally when a youngster starts dressing themselves and looking for themselves, so actually they need to dress like different children in school, or their relatives or siblings. That need to dress as in vogue and "cool" as other people later transforms into a genuine affection for the brand which makes the back to class and holidays season the busiest for the organization since that is the point at which