Finally, Teens Don't Like, Or Want To Be, Girls Who Wear Abercrombie & Fitch

Oh, Abercrombie & Fitch! Your sexed-up, overpriced, sexist, ridiculous clothing epitomized everything that sucked about the late 90's. And now, after a long reign of terror, the kids are finally over your brand of bullshit.

Let me explain why I hate abercrombie and fitch so much: when I was in the hospital for anorexia 5 years ago, I shared a room with a young woman who was so sick that she needed to be tube-fed 24 hours a day. She was at least 40 pounds underweight and looked like she was going to break. The week before she was hospitalized, she told me, she went to buy clothes at Abercrombie & Fitch, and the manager pestered her the entire time, begging her to apply for a job there, because she had "the look they wanted." Classy!

Abercrombie & Fitch rose to prominence during my high school years, when bland preppy clothing somehow became all the rage. Never before or since have kids in public school taken such a shine to khaki pants and puka shell necklaces. Walking into an Abercrombie & Fitch (or a Hollister, or an American Eagle) is a bit like walking into a super lame high school party; the stench of cheap cologne is everywhere, the lights are low, the music is bad and way too loud, and there is an air of pseudo-sexuality that screams, "I want to make out with you but I'm going to be reallllly bad at it!"

Abercrombie has made headlines over the years by releasing such charming women's t-shirts with sexist slogans such as "With these, who needs brains?" and "Blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored," (the shirts were pulled after boycotts sprung up) and by promoting racist t-shirts with lines like "Two Wongs Can Make It White." Somehow, the company kept going after these disasters, as the kids kept dropping their money on overpriced terry cloth pants.

But the recession is changing everything, and the kids are moving away from the Abercrombie brand. The store is struggling, posting a 34% drop in sales since last year, a number Caitlin McDevitt of MSNBC notes is "the worst among retailers in March."

"There was a time when abercrombie and fitch sexy ad campaigns and half-dressed salespeople were irresistible to teens," McDevitt writes, "A time when an endless line outside the flagship Fifth Avenue store curled around the block each morning. A time when the store effortlessly convinced young people that wearing two expensive polo shirts was infinitely more stylish than wearing just one. And the teens followed like lambs. There were days when A&F stock topped $80 per share, but those days have passed. Now, shares have sunk to less than one-third of that, and it seems that the embroidered Moose logo may be losing its cachet."

Don't worry, abercrombie and fitch
. I'm sure you still have stock of your racist, sexist t-shirts to cry into. And, of course, Rich Cronin will always think you are fly.

Disabled student sues Abercrombie & Fitch for discrimination

Clothing retailer abercrombie and fitch
has been accused of "hiding" a sales assistant in a stockroom at a London outlet because her prosthetic arm didn't fit with its "look policy", a tribunal has heard.

Riam Dean, a 22-year-old law student from Greenford, west London, claims she was removed from the shop floor at the company's Savile Row branch when management became aware of her disability.

Dean, who was born without her left forearm and has worn a prosthetic limb since she was three months old, is suing for disability discrimination after she was left "personally diminished [and] humiliated" when she refused to remove her cardigan at work last summer.

"I had been bullied out of my job," she said. "It was the lowest point I had ever been in my life."

It is believed Dean is seeking around ￡25,000 in compensation for her experiences under what she described as A&F's "oppressive regime". Her legal team would not comment on the sum.

Dean claims that when she told A&F about her disability after getting the job, the firm agreed she could wear a white cardigan to cover the link between her prosthesis and her upper arm. But shortly afterwards, she was told she could not work on the shop floor unless she took off the cardigan as she was breaking the firm's "look policy". She told the tribunal that someone in the A&F head office suggested she stay in the stockroom "until the winter uniform arrives".

The "look policy" stipulates that all employees "represent abercrombiea and fitch with natural, classic American style consistent with the company's brand" and "look great while exhibiting individuality". Workers must wear a "clean, natural, classic hairstyle" and have nails which extend "no more than a quarter inch beyond the tip of the finger".

Dean said today in her evidence: "A female A&F manager used the 'look policy' and the wearing of the cardigan as an excuse to hide me away in the stockroom.

"I knew then that I was being treated different and unfairly because of my disability. Her words pierced right through the armour of 20 years of building up personal confidence about me as a person, and that I am much more than a girl with only one arm … "

Dean said the "look policy" was inconsistent: "Having visible tattoos breaks the 'look policy' and yet I've seen a worker with a tribal arm tattoo which is very noticeable and yet Abercrombie allowed him to work on the shop floor. Clearly their reasoning goes far deeper and I'm sure it's not the cardigan which breaks the look policy, it's the disabled label which does," she said.

She added: "I am born with a character trait I am unable to change, thus to be singled out for a minor aesthetic 'flaw' made me question my worth as a human being.

"abercrombie and fitch taught me that beauty lies in perfection, but I would tell them that beauty lies in diversity, for I would rather live with my imperfection than to exude such ugliness in their blatant display of eugenics in policies and practices."

Her friend Genevieve Reed told the tribunal that Dean had changed since working at A&F, and had "started to question whether this was just the first of a series of obstacles she would come up against in her life due to her disability".

Medical evidence presented to the tribunal revealed Dean had undergone a psychiatric assessment to support an application for disability support funding several months before starting work at A&F last May. The psychiatrist described her as "socially isolated", with an anxiety disorder that reached "phobic levels" relating to a fear of travelling on public transport.

A&F's barrister, Akash Nawbatt, suggested that someone with such a phobia would not be able to work in a noisy shop, and suggested that she may have exaggerated her medical problems.

He also repeatedly accused Dean of exaggerating the effect her time at A&F had had on her, and suggested she had lied on the claim form she submitted to the tribunal.

Under questioning from the three tribunal judges, Dean admitted that an element of the original claim form was false. This stated that she had been repeatedly asked by A&F management to remove her prosthetic arm, but Dean said that this had not been the case, and implied it was a mistake.

The tribunal continues.

“Field Guide” Bye-Bye , Abercrombie and Fitch stops selling porn.

In matters of foreign policy, Teddy Roosevelt advised, one should speak softly and carry a big stick. Last month tens of thousands of Americans applied that advice to a vexing domestic matter. Their "big stick" was the threat of a nationwide boycott of one of Roosevelt's favorite stores, abercrombie and fitch.

The threat worked. Four days before the official start of the Christmas shopping season — abercrombie and fitch, known for overpriced clothes and underdressed models — ordered its 651 stores to stop selling "The Christmas Field Guide," the latest edition of the company's pornographic quarterly magazine. It's evidently the start of a permanent ban on selling the quarterly in stores, and it's evidence that when enough people get mad — and take action — even the most libertine companies will sometimes back down.

Abercrombie's quarterly has long angered parents and others concerned about cultural decay. The 2003 Christmas issue features dozens of naked young men and women in various sexual poses, including group sex. The pictures are accompanied by a column from a "sexpert" who, among other lewd advice, suggests readers engage in oral sex in movie theaters "so long as you do not disturb those around you."

Earlier editions featured pictures of Santa in sadomasochistic poses with his elves, drinking tips, advice on seducing everyone from teachers to nuns, and a recommendation that students "negotiate a special group rate at a local motel, which your entire quad can take advantage of." A&F recently outraged parents by marketing, to seven-year-old girls, thong-style panties featuring slogans like "Eye Candy" and "Wink Wink."

I visited an A&F store at the Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland last Wednesday. I was planning to write a story about the quarterly, and wanted to see a copy for myself. But when I got to the counter, the sales associate told me they were no longer selling the Christmas issue. This was confirmed by store manager Matt Willard, who said all A&F stores were ordered to stop selling the quarterly last Tuesday. Store managers were given no explanation for the decision, he said.

I called Abercrombie's national headquarters in New Albany, Ohio to confirm this. CEO Mike Jeffries and his staff were not available, but an employee who gave his name as "Brennan" said the company had been, over the last two weeks, received 300 calls per hour from people announcing they were boycotting A&F stores until the clothier stopped selling the quarterly. The decision to yank the Christmas issue from stores was made at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, he added.

Who was behind the boycotts?

"Ever hear of Dr. Dobson?" Brennan asked.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family recently spent a radio program and an appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country urging listeners to boycott Abercrombie until it stopped publishing the quarterly.

Dobson was joined in his efforts by former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, Chuck Colson, the American Decency Association (ADA), the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, and others.

Pressure on A&F may also have come from another source: Corporations that own other stores. Bill Johnson, president of the American Decency Association, says that his group had come up with a unique new strategy for getting a Grand Rapids, Michigan A&F to not only stop selling its raunchy quarterly, but also to get rid of the huge photographs of naked models that decorate the walls of every A&F store.

Discussions with Abercrombie and the manager of the Rivertown Crossings Mall in Grand Rapids had gone nowhere. So Johnson sent a letter to the managers of all 120 mall stores expressing concerns about what children visiting the mall were being exposed to. He enclosed several photos from A&F's quarterly. Police yourselves, he warned, or we'll urge people to boycott the entire mall — right at the start of the Christmas shopping season.

Johnson immediately heard from two stores, including the manager of one of the mall's largest department stores. In the last two weeks there have been, Johnson says, "significant discussions" between the corporation that owns the department store and abercrombie and fitch, leading the ADA to agree to agree to delay the boycott.

The mainstreaming of porn is nothing new. What outrages many parents is that Abercrombie is deliberately aiming its porn and damaging lifestyle advice, not at dirty old men, but at kids.

The best news is the lasting Christmas gift abercrombie and fitch
is giving to America. When I tried to order a "Field Guide" by telephone, an A&F employee told me the company's decision to keep the quarterly out of stores is permanent. She, too, blamed the boycotts. The only people who will have access to the quarterly in future, she added, are those who already have a subscription. It's a huge step forward.

A&F's CEO Mike Jeffries has for years sneered at those who complained about his quarterly's filth. Asking him softly to clean up his act didn't work, but big stick evidently did.

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Filson’s totally nude female greeter trumps Abercrombie & Fitch’s

The abercrombie and fitch store in my old Los Angeles neighborhood uses a bare-chested, beefcake male as a door greeter. Standing hands on hip to highlight his impeccable pecks, the young man poses for photos with shoppers and reminds passersby of the vogue nature of the clothier.

There are three abercrombie and fitch
outlets in Colorado, but I haven’t visited any of them since moving back to Denver earlier this summer, so I don’t know if they offer a comparable display of male eye candy.

I was reminded of A&F earlier this week when I happened upon a marvelous Cherry Creek retailer whose merchandise I vastly prefer to that sold by abercrombie and fitch and whose totally naked female greeter better personifies the store’s upscale outdoor wear than A&F’s door dudes embody that chain’s lines of apparel.

Filson’s part-time greeter, Tobee, is a stunning blond: athletic, affectionate, and loyal, as befits the specialty retailer. Sitting unclothed on the stoop of the Filson entrance at 200 Fillmore Street, it isn’t hard to imagine taking Tobee along on my next outdoor adventure, even if I am a happily married man.

Lest my Rabbi read this and have a coronary, I guess it’s important to note at this point that Tobee is an irresistible one-year-old yellow Labrador that is owned by one of Filson’s sales associates. While Tobee looks as if she was planted on the store’s doorstep as a deliberate ploy to woo the hunters, campers, fisherman, and office day dreamers to whom Filson caters, the dog’s perch is really nothing more, I discovered, than a happy coincidence.

Without Tobee at the door, I never would have entered the store. And that would have been my loss.

In this age of cookie-cutter retailers, Filson is unlike any other store in Colorado, which is home to so many outdoors-loving residents. The Cherry Creek store, in fact, is one of only three Filson stores in the world and when it opened 3 ? years ago, became Filson’s first store anywhere other than at the C.C. Filson Company’s Seattle headquarters.

Filson itself has been serving outdoors lovers since 1897, selling rugged quality clothing and accessories through its catalogue and authorized dealers. In Colorado, those who can’t make it in to the Cherry Creek emporium can find Filson authorized stores in Telluride (Black Bear Trading), Colorado Springs (Burlap Bag), Fort Collins (Jax Outdoor Gear), and Steamboat Springs (Zirkel Trading), among other outlets. Customers can also browse and order from the Filson web site, www.filson.com.

The Filson line, itself, is a throwback to the days long ago when abercrombie and fitch focused on the upscale hunting and fisherman markets. Marry that with Nordstrom-caliber customer service and voila, you wind up with a shopping experience extraordinaire.

Kevin Salsbury, a graduate of Denver South High School, is the lucky man who Filson tapped to open the Cherry Creek store and he has been its manager from opening day.

As Tobee stretches, walks freely through the store and mooches doggie treats, Salsbury tells me Filson’s motto is “Might As Well Have The Best.” Among the most popular items in the store are Filson’s Tin Cloth Hunting Jacket ($195) and Mackinaw Cruiser ($279.50), which was first designed by company founder Clinton C. Filson in 1914 to keep timbermen warm no matter the elements.

While Tobee’s owner, J.C. McMullen is an actual hunter who loved the store so much as a customer he went to work for it, I took a liking to the store based on the look, feel and functionality of its male-dominated line. This is truly a “Men’s Store,” although Filson does have a growing selection of women’s clothes and accessories and Tobee could purchase a wool-lined dog coat or dog bed if she was so inclined.

Whether you are headed out to enjoy Colorado’s many fields and streams for Labor Day weekend or if you merely want to navigate the white-collar forests of Downtown Denver’s high-rises, Filson can outfit you stylishly and comfortably.

When I visited Filson with my wife and teenage daughter this week, Tobee was so happy to get attention from my daughter that the Labrador literally knocked her off her feet with kisses.

As my wife observed, that never happened once to her when she dropped by the A&F in Los Angeles. The friendliest greeting my wife ever got from the beefcake doorman was a warm smile.

Skimpy Profits Pressure Abercrombie's Pricing Attitude

The clock is ticking on abercrombie and fitch.'s strategy of selling high-priced teen clothing as the recession erodes sales and profit margins, and competitors outrun it.

The New Albany, Ohio, company, which is expected Friday to report a quarterly loss of seven cents a share excluding charges, has refused to offer deep discounts, allowing lower-priced rivals such as Aeropostale Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. to build sales and finance attacks on abercrombie and fitch
children's and young adults' sales.

Aeropostale has posted increases in sales at stores open at least a year of 11% and 12% for the first and second quarters of this year. In June, it opened its first P.S. from Aeropostale children's brand store taking aim at Abercrombie's children's clothing.

In contrast, abercrombie and fitch high prices have produced 30% sales declines at stores open at least a year in each of the first two quarters.

High prices and a reputation for scantily clad models for years generated some of the best profits in the teen business. But that is no longer the case, said Richard Jaffe, a managing director at brokers Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

From 2002 to 2007, Abercrombie's operating margins hovered slightly below 20%. But last year, Abercrombie's operating margin fell to 13.3% and should fall to just 3.9% this year, said Mr. Jaffe.

Abercrombie Chief Executive Mike Jeffries declined to comment ahead of quarterly earnings. Abercrombie has been reluctant to alter its pricing strategy in part because it believes it is the key to international growth, embodied by its large store in London. The strategy overseas is to sell its clothing as a luxury American brand.

To preserve that air of exclusivity, the London outpost, a tourist magnet, doesn't offer discounts or promotions of any kind. A men's polo shirt that retails for $60 in New York sells for ￡60 ($99) in the London store, which continues to post year-over-year increases in monthly sales. The company plans to open a large store in Milan in October and in Tokyo in December.

Even so, it has several times embarked on price cuts to move unsold inventories. Abercrombie has insisted the markdowns are highly selective. They are noted subtly by small signs on tables, not the large red signage in store windows deployed by competitors. Even on sale, a typical Abercrombie item often remains pricier than offerings from its peers.

But there are signs it is edging toward deep price cuts. At a San Francisco store in late July, more than 25% of its clothing was on promotion, compared with just 10% a year earlier, according to Ann Poole, an analyst at investment bankers Stephens Inc. Earlier this year, bowing to pressure from Wall Street, the company said it would lower ticketed prices at its Hollister and abercrombie children's brand for spring 2010.

"They don't want to destroy the brand positioning that they have, which is the cool shop in the mall," says Marie Driscoll, a retail analyst at Standard & Poor's Equity Research. "But cool is changing. And part of cool now is value."

The company, which earlier this decade settled suits alleging discrimination against Asian, African-American and female employees, was fined about ￡9,000 ($14,800) by a British court Thursday for unlawfully dismissing a London store employee with a prosthetic arm. The company called the dispute a "misunderstanding" and "based on the events of a single day."

Wall Street is pushing Abercrombie to abandon its high prices, which can be double what its competitors charge for similar clothing.

Analysts say the luxury image is failing to resonate with consumers amid the recession.

Some analysts said Abercrombie's luxury-priced strategy delivers stronger cash than its rivals -- despite the sales decline. While cash flow from operations fell 40% last year, to $490.8 million, it far outstripped the $202.1 million generated by Aeropostale. The company ended its fiscal year in January with $522.1 in cash and just $100 million in debt.

But a year of sharp sales declines could put the company in a precarious position, Stifel Nicolaus's Mr. Jaffe said. He believes the company is trying to ride out the recession, relying on its cash to support the stance.

"The feeling is: We've got the cash, we've got the brand -- the worst thing we could do is act like there's a fire sale," Mr. Jaffe says. "It's not a question of survivability at this point. It's a question of returning to historical levels of viabilit

Abercrombie to Lower Prices, Focus on Being Sexy and Controversial

abercrombie and fitcho. lost $26.7 million in the second quarter. This being the third straight quarter of double-digit sales declines, changes are afoot! Executives have finally realized the dissonance between the brand's cost and its value. At last they've decided to lower prices, try to sell clothes that people see a point in purchasing, and focus on their greatest strength: sexy 20-year-olds who enjoy riding horses naked through the woods. CEO Michael Jeffries says he learned something after Ruehl shuttered in June: “We are young. We are sexy. We are controversial at times. That’s what we know how to do and that’s the business that we own here and are comfortable that we can around the world.”

The "most dramatic" price reductions will take effect next quarter and be most noticeable at Hollister and abercrombie and fitch. More than 270 leases are up for renewal in 2011, and the chain is likely to shut some abercrombie and fitch stores. Jeffries said the label won't open any more flagships in the U.S., but plans to "accelerate the opening of international Hollister stores in 2010 and 2011." The Germans ought to have a greater appetite for scary dark techno caves during daylight hours than Americans do.