After closing 53 U.S. locations last year, Abercrombie & Fitch says another 60 domestic stores are heading for the garbage pile as the company continues to struggle to bring in customers.
These likely won’t be the last store closures either, as CNBC reports that half of the company’s more than 700 leases are up for renewal at the end of fiscal 2018.
“We haven’t been shy about [closing stores],” CFO Joanne Crevoiserat told analysts while speaking on the company’s earnings call Thursday.
Same-store sales were down 5% in the last quarter for A&F, which also includes the Abercrombie Kids and Hollister brands. The company says it was its namesake stores that suffered the most.
The company has also tried to boost its bottom line by trimming down its workforce, laying off 150 employees at its Albany, OH, headquarters in January.
Abercrombie told everyone who will listen that it’s moved past its former sexy-abs loving self, but despite those rebranding efforts, the brand has been failing to attract customers in what’s a generally bleak retail environment.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist