Oh Abercrombie and Hollister.
You have clad many high school freshmen until they matured and realized that actually having a sense of style was a thing. You and your dimly lit, smelly stores with very questionable hiring policies; your many, many scandals; your former CEO who looks like an orc straight out of Middle Earth (I'm serious, google him). Ironically, he has also said that A&F markets to "cool, good-looking people." But Mike Jeffries (said part-time CEO, full-time orc) stepped down in December 2014 after months of declining sales. The next day A&F's stocks jumped almost 10 percent.
While the board hasn't appointed a new CEO yet, Fran Horowitz-Bonadies and Christos Angelides are acting as joint executives. Although I haven't stepped foot inside either store since I couldn't handle the embarrassment, I did poke around on both websites and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.
- The clothing looks like American Eagle and Madewell had a baby. A very chic, moderately-priced baby. Hollister's clothing actually looks stereotypically Californian for once.
- Did you ever notice how none of Abercrombie & Fitch's branches sold black clothing? Like, ever? That's changed. So much so that they have a 'Black Dress Shop' feature.
- Also, they're phasing out their logo clothing. God is good.
- Like American Eagle and Madewell, A&F now sells merchandise from other brands on their website.
- They're so hip that they're selling turtlenecks.
- If I showed you pictures from Hollister's website without the name, you'd swear it was from an American Eagle ad.
- The prices on both sites are noticeably decent. It's not Forever 21 prices, but both sites have plenty of clothes under $50, and basics as low as $10.
- They are aiming to increase diversity in their brand representatives, and employees are no longer required to wear A&F/ Hollister clothing.
- They're ditching their sexed-up imagery in stores- -- along with the dark lighting, overdose of perfume and loud music.
- They're closing US stores, and instead focusing on building outlet stores and expanding to places like Mexico and Asia, which I think it a great move. Currently, the brand is more likely to have a larger appeal across the border and overseas than here in the US.
Management's moves these past few months have definitely been steps in the right direction. Maybe it's the business major in me, but seeing them try to change their business for the better makes me immensely happy. Although they will have to fight preconceived ideas to become a popular brand in the US again, I think that if they keep on this upward swing long enough, they will have a shot at becoming relevant again.
