Retailer Abercrombie &Fitch
Good riddance. This game of baiting the media into covering the company's exploits and, in turn, entice young shoppers is getting old. And tired. I'm sure when Abercrombie started this, teens were excited to shop at a place that would turn out such naughty materials. Rebellion sells.
But at some point, the gig was up. Kids aren't dumb. They know when they're being marketed to. They realized what the company was up to after being beat over the head with it, and, judging by a slew of same-store sales declines, they simply stopped reacting. Abercrombie, on the other hand, kept pushing, hoping to eke out one last little ounce of shock value. What began as a novel approach to marketing ended up being just plain boring.
Abercrombie says it will unveil its new marketing strategy in the spring. I can't wait to see what the company comes up with. The way it handled the end of the Quarterly -- first, denying that pulling it had anything to do with the protests and promising to have another in stores in January, then just scrapping the whole thing altogether -- hardly inspires confidence. We'll see.
As for me, I dug out my stack of old Quarterlies last night. Look out eBay
LouAnn Lofton owns shares of Abercrombie & Fitch. To talk about the company, check out our Abercrombie discussion board.