Company 's Internal And External Analysis

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

The apparel store industry within the USA is a highly competitive market, consisting of number of companies that are willing to fight for their share of the market. To remain afloat in this business, corporations must be highly innovative, price-conscious, knowing the trend, and with great responses to consumer needs. Each company within this industry must be aware of the competitors’ move, trying to match every trends and benefits offered by another, in order to steal the average consumers. Market-alertness is the key to survival; each company must balance marketing strategies and customer-service, responding to consumer demands within the shortest processing time

They need to work on earning the trust of their customers with their affordable prices and good quality of the garments sold. In addition to customer loyalty, not enough time is spent on advertising of the company. Because of the lack of advertising AE has experienced a loss of fashion sales in the recent years. The store needs to reach out to its target market by providing more commercial or doing more promotional work. American Eagle is challenged with determining what trends are appropriate for its customers and how to interpret thee trends. Over the past two years, competitors such as Abercrombie and Fitch have lowered their prices, which have created additional promotional pressure for American Eagle. Some investors believe Aeropostale has the value niche and Abercrombie has the high end positioning, so American Eagle is sometimes perceived as being stuck in the middle, without a true niche (http://www.tcnj.edu/~keyser2/Strategic%20Management/American%20Eagle/Datamonitor%20Overview.txt).

The apparel and clothing accessories industry, a subgroup within retail, reached sales of $32 billion in 2016. Given the industry’s highly competitive and rapidly evolving nature, Canada Goose Inc. (CG) and Roots Corp. (Roots) must focus on creation of innovative designs to remain relevant. Retail sales are forecasted to decrease, however, the luxury segment of retail stores and e-commerce segments are predicted to expand. This suggests CG and Roots have the capacity to remain competitive due to their high-end product offering and online sales presence.

Abercrombie and Fitch has become a household name and you can find one of their three division stores in your local mall and or shopping center. The stores under Abercrombie and Fitch are Hollister and Gilly Hicks Brand. I have conducted an analysis that illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of Abercrombie and Fitch. This company strives off of their strengths, which included customers having great accessibility each of their divisions. They have a higher profit after they were able to close some of their stores to focus on their stores that high profitability and revamping those. Abercrombie and Fitch were able to get high brand names such as Ralph Lauren to help bring a fresh new style into the store that in turn doubled the net income

Helps to indicate how Abercrombie&Fitch is performing with regard to the market value of its shares.

“American Eagle Outfitters sells casual, outdoor-oriented clothes and accessories to men and women. Khakis, denim jeans, shirts, shorts, dresses, wool and cotton sweaters, knit shirts, jackets, shoes, belts, socks, and bags make up American Eagle Outfitters’ line of apparel.” The company has three private label brands which are designed by an in-house team. This team identifies fashion trends and then integrates them into the latest apparel designs. These designs are then manufactured by outside vendors (American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.).

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. Macy's, with its ride array of assortments and products continues to grow as it attempts to capture market share from failing competitors. Macy's is also unique as it operates in a unique market

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. Macy's, with its ride array of assortments and products continues to grow as it attempts to capture market share from failing competitors. Macy's is also unique as it operates in a unique market demographic. It is upscale, but not to the extent of Saks Fifth Avenue or a Nordstrom. It is also not as low scale as a JC Penny or Sears. As such, the company occupies a unique

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).

Despite Abercrombie & Fitch’s efforts to win back loyal consumers with their new rebranding initiative, the company continues to experience a decline in annual revenue and dismal growth coupled with a poor return on investment, making it a risky investment option for potential shareholders. According to the company’s annual report, Abercrombie & Fitch saw a decline in revenue from $4,116.90 billion in February 2014 to $3,744.03 billion in 2015 with fourth-quarter revenues falling nearly 14% to $1.12 billion (Abercrombie & Fitch 41). The company contributed its dismal report to a decrease in the number of operational stores at the end of Q4 fiscal 2014, weak consumer demand for both Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch, slowing growth in

Even though American Eagle has presented some challenged situations in past years that could also affect the way it operates, the company’s strategies implement, such as implementing a good pricing strategy, have help it to still be competitive in this fashionable industry that is continually changing the way people think about apparel. Actions such as investing more in its omni-channel distributions and focusing on the growth of Aerie and Tailgate brand in the marketplace, could allow American Eagle Outfitters to be a more competitive firm with solid financial results.

There are four divisions under Abercrombie and Fitch: AbercrombieKids (for younger kids), Hollister (for teenagers), Gilly Hicks (loungewear for women) and RUEHL. These are considered “divisions” because unlike subsidiaries they do not operate on their own, but just act as branches under the demand of the main industry. Although the industry operates all year round, Abercrombie and Fitch has two main seasons in which they bring in the highest percentage of sales; fall and spring.

Hollister performed well for the organization in the last announced quarter in spite of a testing retail condition, a pattern which is relied upon to proceed in the primary quarter also. In any case, for Abercrombie, the brand has not possessed the capacity to conquer the difficulties postured by the attire showcase, which is required to bring about a slower than anticipated advance of the brand renewal arranges. The organization's lead and traveler stores are foreseen to weigh vigorously on the outcomes, accordingly of the holding on activity headwinds.

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. Macy's, with its ride array of assortments and products continues to grow as it attempts to capture market share from failing competitors. Macy's is also unique as it operates in a unique market demographic. It is upscale, but not to the extent of Saks Fifth Avenue or a Nordstrom. It is also not as low scale as a JC Penny