Abercrombie & Fitch Closing 180 Stores By 2015

Abercrombie & Fitch, the Ohio-based teen retailer, plans to close 180 of its U.S. stores by 2015, CEO Mike Jeffries told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.

Unlike its flagship in New York City -- where buff men in minimal clothing lure shoppers around the clock -- many of Abercrombie's 1,014 U.S. stores are under-performing, tucked away in the empty hallways of aging malls. Apparently, you can't just stick shirtless models outside of every store.

By closing unprofitable locations, Abercrombie hopes to elevate its brand image as well as its profit margins. The 180 stores announced today are only the latest in a string of closures: last year, Abercrombie closed 71 U.S. stores, including 68 during the busy holiday shopping season. The company did not specify where the new closures will occur.

Meanwhile, Abercrombie is opening new locations abroad. With the U.S. economy still rocky, retailers like Abercrombie and Gap Inc. are fleeing to Europe and Asia in search of shoppers with deeper pockets.

In Europe, Abercrombie has expanded aggressively, opening five flagships and 29 Hollister stores since 2007. Yet even this initiative is now hitting economic road bumps. Abercrombie's store traffic and sales slowed down over the past year, as Europeans cut back on spending in the face of a worsening debt crisis.

Asia, it seems, is the next frontier. Abercrombie & Fitch opened its first Singaporian store in December and its first Chinese store, a Hollister Co., in Hong Kong in August. A third Chinese location is slated to open in March. "We see growing awareness and familiarity with our brands in China as a major opportunity," said CEO Mike Jeffries on Wednesday’s call.

In Europe, much of Abercrombie's success came from the appeal of its upscale but casual all-American image. Whether this will seduce Asian shoppers -- and whether the company can snatch back the attention of teens at home -- remains to be seen.

Comments

[sonamurg123]

06:58 PM on 03/21/2012

It's evolution that eventually everything will need to change, and Abercrombie & Fitch is no exception if they want to stay in the race. At the end, it's how much profit they make, they can't be so discriminatory as to only hire certain types of models and employees, completely disregarding their potential main source of buyers, which are composed of all races. Next time, use some common sense and hire different ethnic groups so they will be comfortable buying your products, because you represent every ethnic group.

[normansan1]

04:42 PM on 03/07/2012

While those Models are Hot Stuff ... their clothes and prices are not so much plus everyone trying to save the buck... Not surprise there !

[Matt Blanc]

11:06 AM on 02/24/2012

Abercrombie was once a high-end safari outfitter. You could buy fancy hunting guns, canoes, safari clothes (real stuff), fly fishing gear - everything for a trip to the back of beyond. Now the clothing is trash, good only for a few weeks. And if you're not 15-19, don't even bother trying to get the attention of any of the clueless clerks or attempt to find anything in the stores. Everything in the stores I've seen was heaped in dark piles on poorly lit tables. Abercrombie needs to decide if it wants to open nightclubs with 'Chippendale' dancers or try to reclaim its once classy reputation, and offer hard-to-find hard-wearing clothes for real outdoors people. Tilly and Barbour are about all I can think of in that market.

[tiramisu89]

12:10 AM on 02/23/2012

Abercrombie isn't going out of business as what other commenters are saying. The areas in which the stores are located are probably evolving thus Abercrombie is closing the stores in those areas. Plus, the economy isn't helping the company either. To adapt in this constantly-changing world, you need to evolve with it. The company isn't doing badly, it's a unique store with clothes you can't find anywhere else. I'd know because it's one of the only stores with clothes that fit a petite-sized 22-year-old correctly.

[sarasu]

08:04 AM on 02/17/2012

People are tired of paying $30 bucks for 1/2 a crappy tee-shirt, and waiting for the nasty & arrogant help to ring them up,like they're doing you a favor.........

[summer261987]

02:24 AM on 02/17/2012

a very overrated brand...

[garystartswithg]

09:46 PM on 02/16/2012

Goodbye suburbia.

[StrayTalk]

08:27 PM on 02/16/2012

They've been going downhill ever since they stopped selling fishing poles and binoculars

[Zachary Franco]

01:56 PM on 02/16/2012

closing stores in the US and opening new locations in European and asian countries, Good riddance!

[Deftguy]

01:24 PM on 02/16/2012

See what happens when you only hire white boys, only market to them in a country where more brown boys are being born than white boys. A&F, the makeup of the American population is changing, and perhaps you should as well.....or die away.

[Yetzter]

02:16 PM on 03/18/2012

Abercrombie now a days reflects its current local demographic... In places like Miami and New York, AF is one of the most diverse places you will walk into. Obviously, if you walk into an AF, or any other store for that matter in a town of 99% white people, you are only going to find white people in the store.

[montemalone]

12:57 PM on 02/16/2012

Do you think they'd hire me to keep those guys waxed?

[bradenton]

11:14 AM on 02/16/2012

I saw Newt Gingrich topless outside the Abercrombie store in Atlanta. I then burned out my eyes with hot pokers.

[mountainweb]

09:05 AM on 02/16/2012

"and whether the company can snatch back the attention of teens at home -- remains to be seen", here is a clue, unemployment is extremely high for young men. In the 16 to 24 age group, 18% of males lacked jobs last month. Bottom line, people out of work are not rushing out to buy new cars and over priced brand names...

[disgustedcitizen]

08:10 AM on 02/16/2012

Maybe people have wised up and no longer want to pay insane prices for clothing that the average person would throw in the trash.

[eddy joe]

06:47 AM on 02/16/2012

But.....The economy is doing so well!

[Hpotterfan77]

12:28 PM on 02/16/2012

B.S. The economy is doing better but people have realized that over-priced stuff like what they sell just isn't practical. I believe it's more to do with people's shopping and saving habits than anything else. FYI, I'm one of those delusional Obama supporters.