Abercrombie & Fitch has been a longstanding staple in fashion culture for teens, most known for its outward branding and visible logos. However, the tide is turning as youth today are turning away from logo-centric clothing and taking a more bare bones approach. Abercrombie’s sales are suffering as a result of this trend.
Abercrombie’s second quarter sales were $891 million, lower than the $916 million in sales that Wall Street traders were expecting for the retailer. That’s a 6% drop over sales from this time last year. Brick and mortar Abercrombie & Fitch stores have seen a sharp decline as well, going down 8% from this time last year in the U.S., and falling 16% internationally.
Abercrombie & Fitch has received its fair share of bad press throughout the last few years for its lack of interest in being inclusive of different body types. The combination of visible logos going out of style and Abercrombie’s reputation as a retailer that only caters to one body type might be what is contributing most to the brand’s drop in sales.
CEO Mike Jeffries said that back to school sales were helping the company recover from the loss, but he understands that the way to improve sales long term is to give his clientele what they want. “We are confident that the evolution of our assortment will drive further improvements going forward, in particular as we move past the headwind of adverse likes in our logo business as we work to strategically reduce that element in our assortment,” Jefferies said in a statement.
In other words, it’s time to change course and move ahead with the rest of the trends observed in the fashion industry. But while Abercrombie & Fitch is losing steam with the younger crowd, its net income is doing fairly well. The company saw an increase in shares this quarter, going up to 17 cents (or $12.9 million) from 14 cents per share ($11.4 million) per share this time last year.
