Abercrombie & Fitch's flagship era is over: CEO on evolving strategy
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares slide after the company reported quarterly earnings results with sales roughly in line with Wall Street's estimates. Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down with Abercrombie & Fitch Co. CEO Fran Horowitz to discuss the quarter and what's next for the company. Horowitz says the third quarter was "incredible," with "double-digit growth for both brands, all channels, all regions, all genders." The CEO adds that going into the fourth quarter, "what we're seeing is a balance across both brands, and we're seeing strength in tops and in bottoms in Abercrombie and in Hollister." During the quarter, the company expanded its international presence, opening stores and building teams in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific (APAC) regions, both areas Horowitz says the company was underpenetrated in. "We are continuing on our international growth path in both regions." Horowitz explains how the company's strategy has shifted: "Our whole flagship era is pretty much over. Our customer has told us time and time again that that's not how they're shopping with us. Our stores are smaller. They're more efficient. They're omni-enabled. All of these new stores that we've been opening are much smaller [and] much more efficient, [and] have been really driving [a] tremendous amount of sales." Along with its namesake, Abercrombie also owns Hollister Co. "I would say that Hollister is definitely back," the chief executive says, adding: "Our expectation is to continue to see growth in Hollister." Amid uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump's tariff policies and the impact on retailers, the Abercrombie CEO says, "We produce in 17 countries around the world. We're very agile in our production. When we understand truly what's happening, we will have to make some adjustments and we will adjust accordingly. It's exactly what we did in 2018." Watch the video above for more insight from Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz. Also read Brian Sozzi's coverage of the retail chain and how it's preparing for potential Trump tariffs. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
