Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch is an upscale American fashion retailer, headed by chairman and CEO Michael S. Jeffries. Founded in 1892 in Manhattan by David T. Abercrombie, A&F had been an elite outfitter of sporting and excursion goods. It struggled financially from the late 1960s until it was purchased by The Limited in 1988 and repositioned, under the management of Mike Jeffries, as the aspirational "Casual Luxury" lifestyle brand in present form.
The A&F brand focuses on casualwear and accessories for a target consumer ages of 18 through 22. Although Abercrombie and Fitch have a "kids" section of their store that specifically markets to tweens and teens ages 11 through 15. With over 300 locations in the United States, the brand has embarked on international expansion throughout various world markets. The company also operates three off-shoot brands: abercrombie, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. And the targeting consumers are the youngsters that ages between 7 and 22.
A&F successfully closed complete operations of its ailing Ruehl No.925 concept by the beginning of the fiscal year in late January. Total capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $250 million USD to $260 million USD for 2010. $215 million to $225 million is to be related to new stores, store refreshes and remodels, and approximately $35 million related to information technology, distribution center and other home office projects. Abercrombie & Fitch is also on track to open flagships in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Fukuoka (Japan) by the end of the year. Additionally, the company will open 30 HCo mall-based locations internationally and a second EPIC flagship in New York City.
The Abercrombie & Fitch brand has reached its maximum potential in its American home market. International expansion commensed in 2006 with the main long-term goal of successfully executing a strategy of flagship openings, for A&F (and eventually all its brands), in high-profile shopping centers worldwide. Francesco Giannaccari (from luxury company Gucci Group) oversaw the beginnings of Abercrombie & Fitch's international expansion. His vision was more rapid than what Jeffries felt was right, and so Giannaccari stepped down. The directive was then adjusted for growth at a "deliberate pace".
The company had been considering European expansion since the early 2000s. Ensured that the demand for Abercrombie & Fitch had grown strong there, it successfully entered the European market in 2007 with the opening of its London flagship. Since then, Abercrombie & Fitch has been attempting to secure locations in Italy (Milan flagship opened in 2009), France (2011), Germany, Spain, Denmark (2010) and Sweden.
As with Europe, expansion into Asia has also hold a strong interest for Abercrombie & Fitch. Now that it has opened Asia's first A&F location in Tokyo to paramount success (in 2009), the company will primarily focus on the Chinese and Japanese markets where luxury consumption is noticeably high.
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