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When I asked my middle schoolers where they would like to shop, abercrombie is usually at the top of

their list. But as a parent, do I want to shop in a store that promotes kids looking like their older college aged

counterparts with questionable images, pricey ripped jeans and tees with “Girl Bait” on them?

While shopping in the store whose target buyer is the cool attractive all-American kid, music blares in

the background as you purchase your $50 jeans and $38 moose logo polo shirt from a young “all-American”

sales clerk doused in fragrance who you can’t hear just to make your child happy. Which makes me ponder

…. Am I mom of the year? or Does this chain have a brilliant marketing strategy? After all, here I am buying

and I really don’t want to be here.

I also questioned how a store such as this was fairing in these tough economic conditions. While their

competitors are slashing prices to stay afloat, abercrombie is staying the course. Come to find out, the

teenage apparel chain has had some of the worst sales declines in the retailing industry. In the last three

months Abercrombie & Fitch lost $26.8 million, in contrast to a profit of $62.1 million a year ago.

Now what are they going to do? Lower the volume in their stores? (I so candidly was told to shop online

instead.) Will they change their images to appeal to a broader shopping base? Highly unlikely since CEO,

Mike Jeffries wants the stores to have an “emotional experience” which is exclusive to the “good-looking”

crowd.

So the last thing to do is offer up some promotions and discounts for their loyal customers, a tactic A&F

refused in order to maintain their high end image until recently. They have announced they will seek better

deals from suppliers and pass the savings along to their customers with some more affordable merchandise.

In addition, they admitted to missing the trend mark this summer and will be offering more dresses rather

than skirts and add colorful and patterned clothing to their lines.

Rueh

Ruehl 925

Riam Dean, a British law student, is suing abercrombie and fitch for discriminating against her because she was born without a

forearm. When the store hired Dean to work on the sales floor, nobody seemed to have a problem with her

prosthetic arm, which she’s worn her whole life. And when she asked for permission to modify the company’s

strict uniform rules (polo shirts, jeans, all-American heartiness) by wearing a cardigan to hide the prosthetic,

her boss told her it was fine.

Several days later, however, the company’s “visual team” stopped by and insisted that Dean lose the

sweater. Shortly thereafter, she was sent to the stockroom for “breaking the Look Policy,” which apparently

requires multiple arms. When another superior asked her to stay in the stockroom until winter rolled around,

she quit, and now she’s suing. Abercrombie’s run into trouble in the past for discriminating against employees who don’t fit

its athletic blond image—in 2004, the company settled a class auction lawsuit that alleged it was steering

non-white job applicants into stockroom and janitorial roles.