The Power Of Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch is one of the leading clothing companies in the world. They manufacture

Situational Analysis Internal Analysis Abercrombie & Fitch is a popular retail clothing store whose headquarters is based out of New Albany, Ohio. It has become the essence of privilege and casual luxury, made to fit the all American lifestyle. It is a specialty retailer that operates stores and direct-to-consumer operations (New York Times 2014). In 1891 David T. Abercrombie founded Abercrombie & Fitch.

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

We are successfully utilizing social media as a powerful way to gain positive exposure and connect with our internet-savvy customers in a global and local level. We rely heavily in word-of-mouth advocacy”. (John Mackey, 2012)

In the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v Abercrombie & Fitch, a teenager Samantha Elauf filed against Abercrombie and Fitch’s company after she was denied employment at a store for “failing to accommodate” because she wore a hijab for religious practice. The incident first began in 2008 after Samantha’s interview with an employer at a store in Oklahoma. After she was informed of the reason why she wasn't hired, she filed a court case against the company for religious discrimination. In the District Court of Oklahoma, the court decided that Abercrombie’s “look policy” stating that employees must abide by dress code rules was perfectly reasonable. They agreed with the employer that Samantha must take off her hijab for work regardless

Factual History: Ms. Samantha Elauf is a woman who is a practicing Muslim applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which is a national chain of clothing stores. Elauf was interviewed by the store’s assistant manager Heather Cooke, and her interview so went well that it appeared to Elauf that she was going to get the job. Heather Cooke, the store manager who interviewed Samantha liked her and recommended that she be hired. Cooke gave Elauf a rating, which qualified her to be hired, however, she was concerned that her headscarf would conflict with Abercrombie’s employee dress policy. The headscarf that she wore according to her religious obligations conflicted with the store’s “look policy”. Cooke turned to Randall Johnson, the district manager, and informed Johnson that she believed Elauf wore her headscarf because of her faith. She wanted to determine whether or not the headscarf was in violation of this policy. Randall Johnson informed Cooke that Elauf’s wearing headscarf would violate the “look policy”, and therefore that Elauf should not be hired. As a result, Elauf didn’t get hired by Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

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

Social media has become an essential channel for corporations to build a two-way relationship with their customers. However, having a social media account cannot solve everything. To make the best use of social media in keeping a positive relationship with their customers, corporations ought to seek and maintain influence among their followers in social media, and participate in communications with them.

While this type of behavior can be reported by current employees, there are many Muslim and Arab Americans that are stating that they have been denied employment all together, and factor the post 9/11 stigma as the reason. Arab Americans who dress in their traditional or religious attire have been turned down for jobs simply because what they look like or “represent” in the minds of certain people. Hijabs, burkas or other head scarfs worn by some Muslim Arab Americans have been cited as the reason for being denied a job or if hired, given a job that is out of the sight of customers or other consumers. Abercrombie & Fitch was sued by an Arab American girl who was denied employment because her head scarf clashed with its dress code, which called for a ‘classic East Coast collegiate style’” (Limtak, 2015). Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled that the actions of Abercrombie were discriminatory in nature. The company contends that they were unaware that she was wearing the scarf for religious purposes, however, they do not deny that the scarf was the main reason she was denied a

It morally wrong to judge people by the religion that they follow, and when the discrimination is being done in the workplace it is illegal. These are people who just want to work a job to support themselves, but some companies make this difficult. Women wear a hijab or head scarf so they will be judged on their intellectuality, but then they are being passed over for a position that they are qualified for because they wear one. “Companies may see the hijab and immediately make the decision to not hire because of her religion of choice, as the scarf may not have “a place in their work environment”, completely disregarding any and all skills the applicant may hold” (King, 2015). As a country we should be more open to people that are different than us and allow them the freedoms stated in the constitution. Hopefully, we can set a better example and the rest of the world can

The woman claimed that she was denied a job by Abercrombie and Fitch because of her hijab. She was told that her hijab did not fall under the company’s “look policy” which outlines what a typical employee should look like. The policy is designed so that their employees look like typical East Coast college students, and hijabs are not allowed. With the help of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Supreme Court allowed Elauf to sue Abercrombie and Fitch. This provides a powerful precedent for future cases. It let similar companies know that they cannot get away with refusing perfectly qualified candidates because of their religious

In the subsequent article research, the reader will ascertain that Abercrombie & Fitch stood responsible for committing religious discrimination against a 17 year old Muslim girl. The company elected not to hire Samantha Elauf, the applicant, for a sales position that stood to be offered. According to the company, the potential applicant violated the “look policy”. The “look policy” prohibits any employee from wearing head coverings. The article proposes that the company did not hire the applicant since she wore a hijab to the interview. According to the EEOC Abercrombie & Fitch failed produce sufficient evidence that would have properly rebutted the allegations against them. The EEO states that the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. This research will reveal if indeed this suit stood warranted, if this suit remained acceptable, what caused it to be warranted and did the EEOC make a mistake.

Marketing has evolved through a change in production and consumption due to the advent of new technology (Ranchhod, 2004). The development of technology has also driven the globalisation of communication. During this period, consumers are facing a variety of choices (Jackson and Shaw, 2009). Thus, companies need to actively embrace these changing factors to grow their business and succeed in the marketplace.

Being an upscale industry, Abercrombie and Fitch would appear to be a successful corporation. Although the company was once successful for a number of years, it’s apparent that there has been a significant decline in its overall appeal and how much revenue the company acquires each year. With just over 1,000 retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, Abercrombie and Fitch has thrived to be one of the most avid corporate extensions.

In today’s modern era, the world is moving faster than ever, every organization is running a race of gaining maximum market share, and so as the customers, for their organization’s long-term growth but only those companies who transform themselves according to the need and requirement of the customers are able to achieve success and profit they desire and that’s what exactly said by Theodore Levitt (Head of the Marketing area at the Harvard Business School) in his article “The Marketing Imagination”.