Abercrombie & Fitch CEO reveals how the store has stayed close to millennials as they've grown up (ANF)
- Abercrombie & Fitch has been working hard to execute a turnaround by investing in its stores, improving product assortment, and working on its marketing strategy in a bid to appeal to the trendy millennial customer.
- This seems to be paying off: in August, Abercrombie & Fitch, which also owns Hollister and Abercrombie Kids, reported its third consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales growth at its namesake brand.
- In a recent interview at the WWD Apparel & CEO Summit, CEO Fran Horowitz said that she is able to stay close to the retailer's target customer thanks to the help of her 25-year-old daughter and a team of millennial-aged associates.
Abercrombie & Fitch has been working hard to refresh its brand in a bid to appeal to millennial shoppers: it's turned up the lights in its stores, ditched its shirtless models, and traded overly sexualized ads for wholesome, outdoorsy images.
"We are not the Abercrombie & Fitch that you once knew," CEO Fran Horowitz said at the company's investor day in April.
And it seems to be working: In August, Abercrombie & Fitch reported its third consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales growth for its namesake label.
Horowitz and her team have been insistent about no longer being seen as a retailer just for teens, an audience that its sister brand, Hollister, is targeted exclusively toward.
In a recent interview at the WWD Apparel & CEO Summit, Horowitz provided a glimpse into how she stays in tune with the millennial shopper: via her 25-year-old daughter.
"She keeps me very close to who our consumer is," she said.
Horowitz added that there are over 2,000 associates working at the company's main headquarters in New Albany, Ohio, who are 27 years old on average.
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