Division | |
Industry | Retail |
Founded | July 1998 |
Headquarters | New Albany, Ohio, U.S. |
Number of locations
|
160 |
Area served
|
International |
Key people
|
Mike Jeffries (CEO) |
Revenue | US$ 382.579 million (2010) |
Owner | Abercrombie & Fitch |
Website | abercrombiekids |
Abercrombie kids (stylized as abercrombie kids) is a children's clothing brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch, introduced in 1998. Targeting consumers aged 7–14, the concept is designed as the children's version of its parent company A&F. There are 121 full-price abercrombie kids stores in the USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom; including standalone retail stores and "carve-outs" in larger Abercrombie & Fitch locations.
Abercrombie & Fitch introduced "abercrombie" in 1998 with 9 stores. The purpose was to attract a younger audience to the adult Abercrombie brand. The name of the concept took the same font of its parent, but with a navy color. The abbreviation from "Abercrombie & Fitch" to "abercrombie" with lowercase letters was intended to provide a children's image. The store prototype was as the A&F one, but with variations also intended to appeal to the younger audience. Early abercrombie models include Ronnie Smith, Cassie Ventura, Christina Akatsuka, Christian Valentin, Lindsay Lohan, and model Karlie Kloss.
Abercrombie kids stores are designed to give off a "classic cool" effect. They are designed as "canoe stores," displaying a similar floor layout as Abercrombie & Fitch's (the retail space is divided into multiple rooms). However, the kids prototype does bear differences. It has no louvers to cover the windows, has brighter lighting, is smaller in retail space, blasts electronic dance music and pop music from young artists, and displays marketing pictures with young models resembling those at A&F. The signature fragrance, "Clutch", is sprayed store-wide. On girls' clothing the "Hadley" perfume is sprayed. As of August 2012, abercrombie operates a total of 154 stores in the United States.
The Abercrombie Kids brand began its international expansion when it opened its first Canadian store on August 21, 2008 at Sherway Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Another abercrombie kids store opened at Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto on November 26, 2008. It opened its first flagship store in Milan on October 29, 2009. It is located within the Abercrombie & Fitch Milanese flagship at 12 Corso Matteotti. The practice of placing abercrombie kids stores inside Abercrombie & Fitch flagships store continued in Düsseldorf and Munich stores. There was one in the West Edmonton Mall, but it relocated inside the mall's Abercrombie & Fitch while the old location was replaced with a Microsoft Store.