The following presentation highlights the background of the company and timeline of the rise and fall of the company. The timeline is followed by the 11 big blunders by Abercrombie and Fitch which resulted in the decrease of sales revenue and brand criticism across the globe.....
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The Rise & The Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch
1. THE RISE and THE
FALL
Prepared By:
Bhavik Doshi (B013)
- Abercrombie &
Fitch
2. About the Company
• Began in 1982
• David Abercrombie opened first store in New York
• Started the business selling high-quality camping, fishing and
hunting gear to professional hunters & explorers
• Business bought by the lawyer name Ezra Fitch
• Changed its name to Abercrombie & Fitch in 1904
3. Brands
• The company is brand its apparel under four brands viz.
– Abercrombie & Fitch
– Abercrombie Kids
– Hollister Co.
– Gilly Hicks
4. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
1892
David
Abercrombie
opened first
store in South
Street,
Manhattan,
New York
1892
Started business
with selling of high-
quality camping,
fishing and hunting
gear to hunters and
explorers
1904
Ezra Fitch, a
lawyer bought
the business
5. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
1906
Ezra Fitch was
officially
named co-
founder and
store was
renamed
Abercrombie
& Fitch
1907
Abercrombie sold his
share of the
company, enabling
Ezra to achieve his
goal of expanding
store’s general retail
1910
Store moved to more
fashionable and high-
trafficked 5th Madison
Avenue and became
first retail store to sell
both men’s & women’s
clothing
6. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
1917
Abercrombie and
Fitch became
largest sporting
goods store in the
world
1927
Official outfitter for
Charles Lindbergh’s
historic flight
Atlantic
1947
Reached Sales Peak
and continued to
expand in 1950s
7. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
1960s
Sales slumped as
company
president John
Ewing refused to
reduce prices
1977
Filed for bankruptcy
and was acquired by
Oshman’s Sporting
Goods
1988
Limited Brands
purchased A & F and
made apparel the focus
8. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
1992
Company
President
Sally Frame -
Kasaks stepped
out
1990s
Mike Jeffries was
hired as CEO and
focused on teen
retail markets
2002
Abercrombie & Fitch
received substantial
backlash from Asian
Americans
9. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
2003
Allegation for
discriminatory
hiring practices
against African
Americans, Latino
and Asian
Americans
2006
Mike Jeffries as CEO
created the “Cool”
controversy by saying
sexual attraction is
more important than
emotional experience
2011
A & F sued for $ 1
million by model
Benjamin Bowers for
asking to masturbate
during photo-shoot to
make him look
“relaxed”
10. Timeline of the Rise and
Fall
2012
International
expansion plans were
a focus which fell flat
with decrease in sales
by 26% from 2011 to
2012
2013
Criticism of Mike
Jeffries as CEO for
not selling XL or XXL
sizes for women
which resulted in
backlash
2014
Mike Jeffries issued
pseudo apology for 2006
comments and the
company reported 9%
decrease in revenue and
17% drop in same store
sales for first quarter
12. Don’t Sell Clothes for Large
Women
• A & F don’t sell XL or XXL sizes larger women,
despite offering the for men.
• Mike Jeffries says, “He doesn’t want larger people
shopping in his store, he want thin & beautiful
people”
• The company faced public criticism and a
storm of public backlash
13. Discriminating Hiring
Practices
• Predominantly involved in recruiting people
from white sororities and fraternities
• Faced numbers of lawsuits for discriminating
hiring practices
Company settled the suit in federal court by
agreeing to change their recruitment
practices
14. Workplace Bias
Shifting of non-white and less attractive
employees to stock room, away from
customers
Lawsuit for allegedly forcing an employee
with prosthetic arm in the stock room off the
selling floor
15. Only Good Looking People
Allowed
• Abercrombie & Fitch CEO said that his
business was built around sex appeal
“Sex appeal is almost everything. That’s why we hire good-
looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people
attract other good-looking people, and we want to market
to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone
other than that,” Jeffries said.
16. Insulting America’s
Sweetheart
• Abercrombie & Fitch released a t-shirt reading
“more boyfriends than t.s.” referring to Taylor
Swift’s turbulent love life
• Abercrombie pulled the shirt after the country
singer's ardent fans inundated the retailer
with threats and complaints.
17. Mark up of Clothing by 65 %
Overseas
• Abercrombie & Fitch struggled to shore up on
U.S. business, instead relying upon
international growth to fuel revenue
• The company has marked the same goods sold in its U.S. stores up more
than 65% in Europe.
• Global slowdown has crimped the expansion, by cutting Hollister’s
expansion plans by 25% this year
18. Company’s Ads – Soft Core
Porn
• A&F has faced considerable criticism, boycotting and lawsuits regarding its
overtly sexual materials in advertisement and was called upon soft core
porn by many groups like National Coalition for the protection of Children
and Families.
19. Shirts that Offended
Customers
• Recalled of no. of men’s t-shirt after
boycott from Asian American groups
• T-shirt relied on no. of Asian
stereotypes to drive sales
• Included stereotypes like eyes and
cone shaped hats.
20. Save Saville Row from A & F
• Angered other retailers after announcement
of opening of children’s clothing store
• London’s Saville Row – Famous for its
bespoke tailoring and three-piece suits
21. Bathing Suits – Too Sexy for
Kids
• Abercrombie & Fitch also came under fire for
some of the goods it produced for its Abercrombie
kids line.
• Targeted to girls aged 8 to 14, the company
quickly retitled them "triangle bikinis" before
pulling them from its website and stores.
22. Trying to be Hipster – Confusing
Customers
• Tried to get on eclectic brand wagon,
following success of Urban Outfitters
• Ended up alienating customers
• Brand is straying from their original
design roots
23. Final Words
• A&F is a highly successful and profitable retailer of high-quality casual clothing
thanks to its lifestyle brands.
• Marketing tactics are unhealthy and not beneficial to the target market because
they promote sexual promiscuity and unrealistic body images.
• The company’s reputation has and will suffer if it continues pushing shock-value
marketing at the cost of political correctness.