SUMMARY
Trading on its century-old name, Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) sells upscale men’s, women’s, and kids’ casual clothes and accessories — quite a change from when the company outfitted Ernest Hemingway and Teddy Roosevelt for safaris. A&F operates some 1,070 stores in North America, Europe, and Japan and also sells via its catalog and online. Its carefully selected college-age sales staff and use of 20-something models imbue its stores with an upscale fraternity-house feel. A&F runs a fast-growing chain of some 540 teen stores called Hollister Co., and a chain targeted at boys and girls ages seven to 14 called abercrombie kids. Its three-year-old, just-for-women brand, Gilly Hicks, has about 20 stores.
