Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is a specialty retailer that is headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1892, and it is in business of selling casual apparel to men, women, and kids. The company has four brands, which are known to be: Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks. The business is divided into three parts composing of its US Stores, International Stores, and the Direct-to-Consumer parts. (Money, 2014).
Abercrombie & Fitch was originally founded as a clothing store to sell camping materials in Manhattan (Farfan, 2014). Even though the company pursued success with this concept, they started facing financial difficulties and went through a major change in 1990. The leadership of the company …show more content…
A&F’s Entry to France
In 2007, A&F announced that they will be opening a flagship store in France. The initial research conducted by the team indicated that Paris was an ideal location for A&F, but still had risks involved. At the time, spending on clothing in the French market was at 38.9 billion euros and it had a growth rate of 7.1%. This was rather weak with sales growth at 16.5% overall in 2006. However, the French economy was expected to grow, and the common belief that French value good quality clothing created an anticipation that A&F would be successful in this market.
The company entered the market through opening a single flagship store in the centre of Paris, situated next to luxury brands. The product portfolio stayed the same, and the same store ambiance was created using music, model/sales people, and fragrances. The approach to pricing was different, where the company didn’t adjust monetary values. For example a shirt that costs 40 dollars would translate as 40 euros. A&F also followed their standardized approach towards discounts, and the company didn’t offer any discounts throughout the year (123helpme.com, …show more content…
Google Trends - Web Search interest - Worldwide, 2004 - present. [online] Available at: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Abercrombie%20%26%20Fitch&geo=GB%2C%20US%2C%20FR%2C%20CN%2C%20BR&date=1%2F2004%20121m&cmpt=geo [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].
Gurufocus.com, (2014). Abercrombie & Fitch: No Profits, Just Losses - GuruFocus.com. [online] Available at: http://www.gurufocus.com/news/250925/abercrombie--fitch-no-profits-just-losses [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].
Loeb, W. (2014). Boom! Abercrombie & Fitch Drops Its Logo. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2014/09/02/boom-abercrombie-fitch-drops-its-logo/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2014].
Lutz, A. (2013). Abercrombie & Fitch Refuses To Make Clothes For Large Women. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-wants-thin-customers-2013-5?IR=T [Accessed 15 Nov. 2014].
Mail Online, (2013). Abercrombie and Fitch's stock prices tank amidst CEO's pin-headed 'plus-sized' PR faux-pas. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2330719/Abercrombie-Fitchs-stock-prices-tank-amidst-CEOs-pin-headed-plus-sized-PR-faux-pas.html [Accessed 15 Nov.