Abercrombie & Fitch introduced abercrombie in 1997 with 9
stores. The purpose was to attract a younger audience to the American Abercrombie
brand. The name of the concept took the same font of its parent, but
with a navy color. The abbreviation from “Abercrombie & Fitch” to
“abercrombie” with lowercase letters was intended to provide a
children’s image. The store prototype was as the A&F one, but with
variations also intended to appeal to the younger audience. Early
abercrombie models include Ronnie Smith, Cassie Ventura, Christina
Akatsuka, Christian Valentin, and Lindsay Lohan.
The company uses trademark Casual Luxury to promote the brand. The
brand defines the slogan as using “the finest cashmere, pima cottons,
and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body
conscious clothing,” and “implementing and/or incorporating time
honored machinery …to produce the most exclusive denim…”
The brand carries Men’s fragrances Fierce, Cologne 41, Proof, and
Colden. Women’s fragrances include Perfume 8, Classic, Perfume 41, and
Wakely. Released at the same time, Fierce and 8 and Cologne41 and
Perfume 41 are marketed to compliment one another. High-end fragrances
Ezra Fitch (cologne) and Ezra parfum were described as the embodiment
of “the Abercrombie and Fitch
heritage,” until they were discontinued. Cologne Proof was released in
Christmas 2006 to be removed a year later (though some stores still
carry Cologne Proof). Perfumes Ready is also among the retired
fragrances. Fierce and 8 are the most heavily marketed fragrances as
they are the signature scents of the brand overall.
As the popularity of Abercrombie & Fitch goods increased, so did
the counterfeiting of them. In 2006, the company launched the
Abercrombie & Fitch Brand Protection Program to combat the issue
worldwide (focusing more in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea)
by working with legal forces globally.[28] Shane Berry, who joined the
company in November 2005, was placed in charge of the program. Berry is
a former Supervisory Special Agent from the FBI, and was a part of its
Intellectual Property Rights Program. The news release from A&F
announcing its initiative stated that the “program will improve current
practices and strategies by focusing on eliminating the supply of
illicit Abercrombie & Fitch products.”
The Brand Protection program covers all A&F brands; mainly
A&F, Hollister and RUEHL {shuttered by end of January 2010).
Assuring that its consumers are aware of the issue, the Abercrombie
& Fitch Brand Protection and abercrombie brand protection features
suggest customers to purchase from authentic stores and to report
suspected A&F counterfeiting.
The company’s Abercrombie and Fitch
brand gift cards have been recognized by Consumer Affairs as a “top
pick” for not having deceptive features such as expiration dates,
dormancy fees, and post-purchase fees.
Abercrombie kids stores are designed to give off a “classic cool”
effect. They are designed as “canoe stores,” displaying the a similar
floor layout as Abercrombie & Fitch’s (the retail space is divided
into multiple rooms). However, the kids prototype does bear
differences. It has no louvers to cover the windows, has brighter
lighting, is smaller in retail space, blasts electronic dance music and
pop music from young artists, and displays marketing pictures with
young models resembling those at A&F. The signature fragrance,
“Phelps”, is sprayed store-wide. However, in late 2008, most new stores
have added wooden louvers.
As of 2008, abercrombie operates a total of 209 stores in the United
States. abercrombie kids opened its first Canadian store on August 21,
2008 at Sherway Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. Another abercrombie kids
store opened at Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, Ontario around the end
of November.As of February 2008, there are stores in every state except
for Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont (Closed in 2005), West Virginia,
and Wyoming.
Abercrombie
kids’ apparel is designed to mimic Abercrombie & Fitch clothing,
and the brand carries most the styles that A&F does. Most
abercrombie kids clothes that have the labeled moose on them are to
resemble their parent company “Abercrombie & Fitch” but the kids
signature moose is a smaller to symbolize that they are children. The
trademarked term, “classic cool”, is used to promote the clothing on an
in-store and website level from abercrombie and it acts as the more
juvenile version of A&F’s slogan “Casual Luxury”. The “classic
cool” trade mark was retired in 2007 along with Abercrombie and Fitch’s
“Casual Luxury”. Jeans bear the same back-pocket-stitching pattern as
A&F as well as the same fits respective to sex. The logo moose is
prominently displayed on clothing as is the name “abercrombie” as well
as the year of establishment, “1892″ (Abercrombie & Fitch was
itself established in 1892, but in reality, the children’s’ line
“abercrombie” was not started until 1997). Clothing is categorized
within the “guys” and “girls” divisions. Price points are on par with
those at sister brand Hollister Co.
The brand carries the following fragrance collections: “Phelps”
cologne, “Chase” cologne and “Cologne 15,” as well as “Emerson,”
“Spirit” perfume, and “Perfume 15″. The brand released the
“abercrombie” cologne and perfume set previous to 2006; however, it was
retired Christmas 2007. Chase and Spirit were released Christmas 2006
and were followed by Cologne 15 and Perfume 15 being released Christmas
2007. Chase is set to retire from stores after the Back to School 2009
season is over, however will be available on the abercrombie website
until 2010. New fragrance Phelps and Emerson were released for
Christmas 2008.
