No Abercrombie and Fitch is not a luxury brand. Abercrombie and Fitch makes fashion items of premium quality and sells them at high prices for a near-luxury lifestyle. The A & F brand has gone through a tough time that caused it to lose sales, among other things. A & F almost closed down at a point but was resurrected before things went too bad.
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Is Abercrombie and Fitch High-End?
The products Abercrombie and Fitch produces are undoubtedly high quality and high-end; they are typically sold at high prices. The high price of A & F’s fashion items supports the brand’s near-luxury brand image.
To further drive home this lifestyle statement, it opened its fashion store in New York on Fifth Avenue.
The A & F brand targets the Gen Z, the younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. They are truly gorgeous and stand out anywhere they are worn. At a point when the brand was struggling hard, it still would not bring down the luxury of its items.
What Happened to Abercrombie and Fitch?
Abercrombie and Fitch’s stock began falling sometime in the mid-2010s, dropping below $10 per share. The brand struggled to find a buyer to salvage the situation in its desperation.
Its CEO at the time, Mike Jeffries, stepped down in 2014. What used to be teens’ favorites became America’s most hated retailer by 2016.
About a year later, the brand hired Fran Horowitz as CEO, and the brand’s stock began to climb. Fran Horowitz raised the brand’s worth again and made it the cool brand the world was starting to forget. Today, the brand offers a brighter experience and seems to have made an impressive turnaround.
Is Abercrombie and Fitch Still a Good Brand?
Abercrombie and Fitch is still a good brand despite all it has been through. While A & F struggled, its customers began to seek alternatives as visits to the brand’s stores dwindled gradually.
However, shortly after Mike Jeffries’s departure, a turnaround came to the brand. By 2016, the brand’s former executive chairman, Arthur Martinez, mentioned that the brand is moving towards appealing to an older demographic. The brand had always had sultry ads; this new move meant toning down the ads.
The brand’s old style spoke mostly to teenage customers, but the brand now is trying to draw older youths and young professionals.
Experts commented that this was a wise move for the brand, recalling when near-naked, kissing calls graced stores’ displays, walls, and shopping bags.
How Is Abercrombie and Fitch Today?
Despite the massive turnaround and social revival, Abercrombie is still striving to be as profitable as it used to be. One of the likely reasons for this is the pandemic that hit the retail industry, reportedly harder than the Great Recession.
Still, A & F’s customers that defected to other brands have begun coming back to their “first love.” A teens’ survey held between 2018 and 2019 showed that the percentage of those who didn’t wear A & F dropped from 8% to 4%.
Conclusion
Abercrombie and Fitch maintains a near-luxury lifestyle image that it refused to let go of even during the Great Recession. The brand’s “stubbornness” might have caused its hardships. Still, the A&F brand has made an impressive turnaround; there is hope for it yet.