Retail Detail. Abercrombie Quick to Set Up Hollister's N.Y. Flagship

Swimwear ad for Hollister
The store opening is the first in a trend that Abercrombie is hoping will jump start their sagging sales. The reaction of the Manhattan flagship will determine the pace of A&F’s strategy to open flagships around the world in capitals and major cities. European openings so far include the launch of an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship in Milan this past October. A&F openings in Asia include an 11-story Abercrombie & Fitch site in Tokyo’s Ginza district that debuted last year. With all their plans for expansion getting underway, we can only hope the brand will be more mindful and sensitive of their target demographic. Lawsuits have recently surfaced, blasting the company for discrimination against both customers and employees.
Still smarting in their board shorts and logo tees from suffering abysmal sales, stock plunges, and store closings, retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has decided to put forth it's best efforts to try and stay in the game. The newest venture includes the opening of the first Hollister store—another label under the A&F brand—in Manahattan, with the company undergoing what WWD calls, "aggressive marketing" to promote it.
The cabana-themed store is already being branded as “The Epic Hollister Store", though it will feature the same inventory of—what else?—tragically preppy, tween-themed apparel that A&F and recently closed down Ruehl also supplied. The preparation for the new store includes other components similar to the A&F brand such as current castings for the (cue eye roll) "coolest, best looking" store models for their cutesy ad campaigns, and a recently launched promotional website. The site, called HCORideTheWave.com, is separate from the retail Hollister site and features electronic postcards, directions to the SoHo flagship, a short film with computer graphics of the flagship, and a ticker that counts down the time remaining until the opening.

Starting in 8th grade when I began wearing a lot more black than I had previously, people began to have a problem with me on a superficial level. I was the only member of the 7th grade volleyball team not to make the team again in 8th grade and my replacement was this absolutely horrible player. My teachers for the first time ever began giving me the evil eye when they saw me walk into their advanced classes. I retained many of my friends in all cliques I’d made previously but it was harder now to approach the preps (you know the type) because they’d get into this monologue about how I was “so emo.”
I went through a couple of phases in response to these accusations in my middle school years. First, I harbored a growing resentment toward the preps. How dare they judge me based on a color--not even a fashion as I was never “emo”--and think they had the right to reduce me to their idea of what I was worth? I banded with other similarly styled people and we would basically face off the preps anytime they gave us trouble. We even gave them trouble ourselves, teasing them for the price tags on their clothes. Turns out that when they’re not in big numbers, they’re just like us--vulnerable as hell. And I was no better than them.
Then, I moved away from all of that and my new school in another country had a uniform. Aside from expensive shoes and accessories, you couldn’t really establish clashing personalities with clothes alone, so that problem was done with. With this change a new mentality dawned to me:
Frankly, I couldn’t care less what your style is, how much you spend on your clothes, where you buy your clothes, or any such thing. That’s your business.
And I still subscribe to that school of thought. That said, a new mentality I’ve recently come to cultivate is that you should be mindful of the value of the companies you buy your clothes from. Not to say it gives you a right to tear other people down because what the company they’re wearing doesn’t agree morally with you. It’s more on a personal level: What messages are you supporting?
For instance, this recent piece about Abercrombie & Fitch: Banning a girl with a prosthetic arm to the stockroom because she doesn’t fit their corporate Looks Ideal. (This on top of all other negative press they’ve gotten for things that sicken me.) Now, I personally can’t tell an A&F outfit from an, say, AE one. Even if I could, it doesn’t sit well with the person I am today to make assumptions about you based on that alone. So again, this isn’t for show, it’s on a personal level.
Do you like the idea of your money being used to keep a company perpetuating these ideas alive? Do you want that?
Me? I sure as hell don’t, and even if I had the money to buy things at A&F, I’d still stay far, far away. If I was interested in that look I would find somewhere to get it.
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