John Kruzel is waiting for the market failure of Abercrombie & Fitch’s focus on traditional American beauty:
[CEO Michael Jeffries] has also personally discouraged unattractive, unpopular, and overweight customers from shopping at Abercrombie, and during Jeffries’ tenure as chief executive, the
company has faced numerous discrimination lawsuits. Abercrombie’s most recent stain came earlier this month when a federal judge ruled the company had unlawfully fired a 19-year-old Muslim worker for wearing an Islamic headscarf, or hijab. …
Given that more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese in 2010, that means only 70 percent of the potential teen market can fit into Abercrombie & Fitch clothes, writes retail analyst Barbara Farfan. Crunching data from Pew Research and market research from Dove, Farfan reasons that only 41 percent of the potential teen market that can fit into Abercrombie clothes fit Jeffries’ definition of “all-American,” and only 9 percent of that group considers themselves to be the “good-looking” customers Abercrombie actively seeks.
Maybe that’s why sales are flagging. “With every public statement, every hiring decision, every look book guideline, … every lawsuit, and every news commentary about every one of those things,” Farfan argues, “the identity of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand gets a little clearer and the size of the Abercrombie & Fitch target market gets a little smaller.”
Update from a reader:
I’m a big, bearded, balding, 55-year-old bear. (I am not A&F’s target market! I’m Destination XL’s target market!) Some bear buddies and I, when we’re shopping at a place with an A&F, just LOVE to go in, pretend to shop seriously, and watch how distressed the sales staff gets. We are almost never asked if we need help. They look at us like we’re shoplifters. I will never forget the look on a sales rep’s face when I asked if they had a tee-shirt in triple-XL. I thought he was going to cry!
(Image of Jeffries via Twitter user Mily)
