Abercrombie & Fitch Sees 3Q Sales Drop

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (New Albany, Ohio) announced its third quarter net sales dropped 15 percent to $765.4 million, while same-store sales fell 22 percent.
Among its brands, Abercrombie & Fitch’s comparable store sales declined 18 percent; abercrombie kids same-store sales decreased 22 percent; Hollister Co.’s were down 26 percent; and Ruehl’s fell 30 percent.

“During the quarter, we made advances in our international strategy with the opening of a flagship location in Italy as well as additional Hollister mall-based stores in the United Kingdom,” says Mike Jeffries, ceo and chairman of the board. “The international customer has greeted us at these openings and encourages us in our long-term strategy of aggressively pursuing international growth for our brands.”

In June, the company announced it was closing its 29 Ruehl branded stores and related direct-to-consumer operations by the end of the current fiscal year.

At the same time, it’s pushing its international growth, with recent store openings in Milan with Abercrombie & Fitch and abercrombie kids stores, as well as two Hollister mall-based stores in the U.K., one domestic Hollister store and one domestic abercrombie kids store. The company also plans to open an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store in Tokyo in December, as well as an additional five Hollister mall-based stores in Europe during the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2009. These openings will bring its total European Hollister store footprint to 12 locations. Abercrombie & Fitch flagships in Copenhagen, Denmark and Fukuoka, Japan are also planned for next year.