Abercrombie & Fitch plans to close 60 stores
Abercrombie & Fitch plans to close up to 60 U.S. stores this year as leases expire, the retailer announced Wednesday.
The company operates two Abercrombie & Fitch stores in Oklahoma, including one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa. The firm also operates a Hollister store in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa.
Abercrombie & Fitch did not specify which stores might close.
The company said it plans to open 21 fullprice stores in fiscal 2018, including 11 in the U.S. and 10 in international markets.
Last year, it opened nine new stores, including six U.S. and one international full-price stores and two outlet stores. The company in 2017 closed 39 stores, primarily in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the company said Wednesday that its flagship brand had its first quarterly sales gain for a key measure in five years, offering evidence that its overhaul is working to attract shoppers.
The company overall posted better-thanexpected results for the holiday season period, led by the performance of its surfer-inspired Hollister brand. Its shares soared 13 percent.
The results indicate that A&F’s heavy marketing and fashion overhaul are helping as the teen retailer looks to regain the momentum it had before the Great Recession and compete with Amazon and fast-fashion players like H&M.
“2017 was about stabilization,” CEO Fran Horowitz told The Associated Press. “2018 is a year of investment. We are so pleased with our progress.”
A new look
As part of its changes, A&F has ended its reliance on shirtless models and lifted a strict “look policy” for store employees, turning its focus to customer service and improving its e-commerce business. It has also closed poorly performing stores.
At its 150 remodeled Hollister locations, storefronts are lighter and more open, with lower sight lines so sales associates can see shoppers better. New Abercrombie & Fitch prototypes have no doors at mall locations to be more inviting, have bigger and brighter fitting rooms, and an intercom system so shoppers can request help.
The retailer has also jazzed up its marketing, unveiling a 12-episode reality show starring social influencers on YouTube for its Hollister brand. Last year, it launched its first TV commercial for the A&F brand in more than a decade.A&F’s results Wednesday showed the first quarterly sales gain at established stores in five years at its preppy namesake brand. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key revenue metric for retailers, climbed 9 percent overall.
That metric rose 11 percent at Hollister and 5 percent at Abercrombie. That’s the first such increase for the Abercrombie brand since the second quarter of 2011, says Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a retail research firm.