Now there is no denying that abercrombie and fitch has been a victim of the push toward a new frugality in America. The best measure of this is that the all-important same-store sales metric fell 30% over the past three months. But what we’ve also seen in the case of abercrombie is a bit of a backlash against the company’s self-portrayal.
Last fall the ChangeWave Alliance Research Network conducted a survey that focused on consumer retail buying habits. Respondents were asked which retail stores they were least likely to shop at, and why.
At the top of the list was abercrombie outlet . Now, it wasn’t the company’s high prices relative to lower-cost alternatives such as Aeropostale (ARO) and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) that caused consumers to roil at the prospect of patronage. The problem was, as one respondent wrote, the “immoral advertising and the message it sends to teens.”
