Abercrombie & Fitch (New Albany, Ohio) announced that it will shutter 60 more U.S. stores this fiscal year. These are in addition to the 53 domestic stores it closed last year.
The decision comes as the company searches for ways to boost productivity despite declining sales. For instance, its fourth-quarter earnings revealed that its same-store sales fell 5 percent.
"We haven't been shy about [closing stores]," the company's chief financial officer, Joanne Crevoiserat, told analysts while speaking on the company's earnings call yesterday.
While the company is looking for a variety of ways to boost business (including testing new marketing campaigns and growing its online business), about half of the company’s U.S. store leases are up for renewal by the end of fiscal 2018, “giving the company flexibility to exit more locations without incurring hefty charges,” reports CNBC.