Abercrombie & Fitch is testing a smaller-format Hollister store and letting at least some of its flagships sail off into the sunset.
Abercrombie has signed a shorter lease as it tests the new store, which is down the road from the Macy’s flagship in New York City, reports CNBC. Meanwhile, the company is closing several flagship stores, some of which exceed 40,000 square feet.
Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz
“The flagship model is very outdated from where we are today,” Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz told CNBC in a recent interview. “Our store is evolving.”
CFO Scott Lipesky noted at a Goldman Sachs retail conference earlier this year that flagship stores have become “a drag on profitability.”
“The flagship model is very outdated from where we are today”
Abercrombie is opening about 40 stores this year, net of any closures, but will end the year with less square footage than it had in 2018.
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
