American Eagle : Saturated The United States Market

After careful review of the American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. 2014 Annual Report, it was noted that the company have four areas that they are focusing on. The first being to make more money by adding more “compelling product assortments” by providing an unique costumer experience both online and in stores. The second being to expand their Omni-Channel capabilities. The report defines Omni- Channels as stores including displays and kiosks, web, mobile devices, social networks and email. The third is growing their digital business. The final area is improving profitability.

Both of these companies are doing better than the industry average at turning over their inventory.

First research objective was to determine whether it is profitable for J.Crew to shift their brand focus to a ‘sustainablity’ business model instead of resuming their position in the fast fashion industry.

American Eagle should continue to appeal to their targeted market of 16 to 32 year olds. AE needs to remind their customers that their brand is comfortable, bold and fresh, and is unlike any of the competition. Store atmosphere is also very important when trying to keep loyal customers. American Eagle should hire fun and energetic employees to represent their company. Advantage of appealing to the 16 to 34 year old range is not many retailers in the market appeal to that wide of an age gap because is difficult. Customers being reminded of AE's comfort and freshness will in turn keep sales flowing. Although this could help American Eagle stay one step ahead of its competitors, it could also be a burden on AE because they must know what is appealing to

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

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. still continues to move forward in the business community. Sales are on the rise with an increasing focus on internal controls and management. This success was achieved with little dependence upon advertising. In a financial meeting shortly after the

Abercrombie & Fitch ANALYSIS REPORT Fundamentals Of Retail Design Group 03 Erik, Herr | I-Chu, Liao | Karan, Shah Kuan-Ling, Tseng | Chen-Hua, Wang ABSTRACT This report intends to analyze the unique brand values, the distinct marketing strategies and the compelling competitive dynamics of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), the noted American retailer of casual luxury wear. The purpose of this analysis being to understand the context and motives that drive brand A&F; to draw insights from it‘s past and current strategies and use these to launch a, new sneaker offer‘ within it‘s existing product ensemble. For doing this, we‘ve researched the story of the brand; it‘s original and potential target market, it‘s financial

Of the hundreds of named brand clothing that form part of the retail and fashion industry I chose to compare, for my analysis, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, American Eagle, and H&M. These stores are prominent, well-known for selling apparel, shoes, and accessories by the means of offering sales and promotions to their customers. This is a clever strategy for attracting customers, allowing them to believe that they bought goods at affordable, convenient prices – and not to mention the prestigious name prescribed to the clothing brands. Using keyhole.co as my main source, I obtained relevant and valuable information regarding the status of these brands. My intentions were to compare a period of 14 days, however, due to the limited access that I received from my free trial, the program only allowed me to see fewer of the dates than I anticipated. I want to take this opportunity and mention ahead of time that due to the various and distinctive products that are sold from these stores, when looking for the “spending capacity” I decided to focus on shirts/ jeans for men and women and compare the prices among them since each of these retailers carry those items and as a way to make this report easier to contrast and comprehend. Also, when approaching the section of “setting”, I screen-shotted some of the images on Instagram and made them into a collage to separate the type of clothes and trends that each of these brands sell currently. In the following modules

Under Armour’s business strategy towards market segmentation is broken down into three different basis; Age, Gender, Uses. The first major market segmentation is by age, different age groups demand different products and Under Armour has produced certain merchandise to appeal to each generation. The second is Gender, both male and female respectively make up roughly 50% of the market equally.To appeal to females UA produces apparel in brighter colo, as a fashion forward athletic wear. While for males they they cater toward masculine vibe of tight fitting and resistant to wear and tear. Lastly, UA segments by the range of uses for their products.

The Supreme Court case I chose was Equality Employment Opportunity Commission V. Abercrombie and Fitch. Equal opportunity is defined as the policy of treating employees without discrimination, especially on the basis of their sex, race, and age. In 2008, 17-year-old Muslim girl named Samantha Elauf applied for position at Abercrombie Kids in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Elauf wore a headscarf to her interview and was denied the position.

American Eagle has a clear and developed target market. They know who they are selling to. Research on Demographics Now helped to show more information regarding the target market they are trying to reach. According to Simmons Apparel Summary, there are 122,317,721 total households in the US.

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,

The research paper reviews the situation of the two Brazilian companies Gaucho, S.A (“Gaucho”) and Vaqueiro, S.A. (“Vaqueiro”.) The paper addresses three questions:

American Apparel (AA) is a well-known United States clothing brand that has gained recognition among the retail industry. American Apparel headquarters is located in Los Angles, California where it manufactures and distributes its clothing products. It is known in today’s society, to be sweatshop free and has a strong belief of workers’ rights. However, American Apparel has had a downfall in the retail industry losing revenue. This research of American Appeal will provide feasible reasons why the company should enter China international market to improve on sales revenue.

1. The textile/clothing sector is vertically de‐integrated: design, textile manufacture, clothing manufacture, distribution are undertaken by specialist firms. Why? In this case, clothing firms like American Apparel have vertically integrated, in order to get time to market, increase resources availability, and cost efficiency. However, many textile/clothing sector is vertically de‐integrated which means that their design, textile manufacture, clothing manufacture, distribution are undertaken by specialist firms. (De-verticalization) is the process of separating functions and services from a once-integrated business model. Companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., who emphasize the