Company Overview

Founded in 1892, Abercrombie’s target market for its sports and outdoor wear is the preppy, active youth—a far cry from its early days when it outfitted rugged sportsmen such as Teddy Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway for safaris. Since its makeover in the ’90s, the company has grown from a small retailer to a major chain of more than 1,000 stores, mostly in malls, with four brands, a catalog and online presence. A&F opened five stores in Canada in 2005, and one in London in March 2007, the company’s first overseas store. A Tokyo store is slated to open in 2009, and A&F has announced plans for more European locations, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. A&F also operates a children’s clothing chain called abercrombie and a store for teens called Hollister Co. In 2004, the firm launched Ruehl, a line targeting 22–30 year olds, with hip clothing at lower prices than its rivals. In early 2008, A&F debuted a women-only underwear and personal care line called Gilly Hicks at a storefront in Natick, Massachusetts.  A&F plans to launch three dozen more Gilly Hicks stores by 2010.

Controversy has followed its operations in recent years. A&F actively recruits attractive teens and twenty-somethings to staff its stores, a practice that has lead to charges of discriminatory hiring practices. The firm has come under fire for running provocative, semi-nude and nude photos in its quarterly catalog, complete with sex and drinking tips. Nevertheless, the company’s sales don’t appear to be adversely affected by its sometimes bleeding edge products and marketing ploys.