BLOOMINGTON, Minn.- abercrombie and fitch was fined $115,264 for refusing to let a teenager help her autistic sister try on clothes at its Mall of America. The store was found on the charge of discriminating against a disabled person.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights was satisfied that the Apple Valley family of the disabled teen received settlement after the four years of fighting this case.
The fine was considered a hefty penalty but the Department abercrombie outlet of Human Rights was pleased to finally resolve this case after the retail store refused to apologize for the incident and even questioned the disability of the girl.
Michael K. Browne, the department’s abercrombie legal affairs manager, said the size of the penalty is the largest in at least two years. “We don’t want anything that happened in this case to repeat itself,” Browne said.
2009年10月18日星期日
2009年10月14日星期三
Abercrombie & Fitch Plans Further Price Cuts After 1Q Loss
Reporting a deeper-than-anticipated first-quarter loss, abercrombie and fitch. (ANF) – apparel retailer, which had though reduced its prices during the quarter, but had resisted as drastic price-cuts as the other retailers - intends reviewing its earlier stand with regard to price reductions.
As a result of ANF’s staunch defense of a fundamentally non-promotional approach, it posted a $26.8 million first-quarter loss, in comparison to its year-before income of $62.1 million. The retailer’s gross margin plunged 350 basis points to 63.3 percent, chiefly due to discounting.
The company is now “actively planning for meaningful abercrombie outlet reductions,” particularly at its Hollister and children’s stores, and ongoing clearance events.
Addressing the investors at a conference call, ANF Chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries talked about the company’s “miss” with regard to anticipate some key women’s fashion styles. Jefferies said: “Clearly we missed dresses and clearly we weren't as aggressive with print and pattern as we should have been. We were wrong. I was wrong, and we're correcting as we go forward.”
Talking about the consumers’ reluctance to spend on “premium brands” amid recession, Jefferies said that despite the company Ruehl No.925 taking pride in the quality of its brands and its unique store experience, and not on price; the kind of price-consciousness that has of late been dictating the shoppers’ moves is something that he had not witnessed before.
As a result of ANF’s staunch defense of a fundamentally non-promotional approach, it posted a $26.8 million first-quarter loss, in comparison to its year-before income of $62.1 million. The retailer’s gross margin plunged 350 basis points to 63.3 percent, chiefly due to discounting.
The company is now “actively planning for meaningful abercrombie outlet reductions,” particularly at its Hollister and children’s stores, and ongoing clearance events.
Addressing the investors at a conference call, ANF Chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries talked about the company’s “miss” with regard to anticipate some key women’s fashion styles. Jefferies said: “Clearly we missed dresses and clearly we weren't as aggressive with print and pattern as we should have been. We were wrong. I was wrong, and we're correcting as we go forward.”
Talking about the consumers’ reluctance to spend on “premium brands” amid recession, Jefferies said that despite the company Ruehl No.925 taking pride in the quality of its brands and its unique store experience, and not on price; the kind of price-consciousness that has of late been dictating the shoppers’ moves is something that he had not witnessed before.
2009年10月13日星期二
For those that have never read Abercrombie
Joe abercrombie and fitch first made fame with the book The Blade Itself, book 1 of The First Law Trilogy. From this
series Abercrombie has gained world wide fans for his witty humour, in depth characters with their monologues,
and brutal piece by piece violence.
For those that have never read abercrombie, you will not lose any sleep over not having read the previous
series because this book is completely self enclosed and requires no prior knowledge to be enjoyed. Best Served
Cold employs humour, gore, torture and *cough* romance *cough* all to the extremes. hollister will wow you
with great in depth characters that you will fall in love with, wince at the toture scenes when bits of flesh
are seared away and be absolutely shocked as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. The other great thing
about this book (if you buy the UK version) is the beautiful cover (First Law covers are also beautiful).
series Abercrombie has gained world wide fans for his witty humour, in depth characters with their monologues,
and brutal piece by piece violence.
For those that have never read abercrombie, you will not lose any sleep over not having read the previous
series because this book is completely self enclosed and requires no prior knowledge to be enjoyed. Best Served
Cold employs humour, gore, torture and *cough* romance *cough* all to the extremes. hollister will wow you
with great in depth characters that you will fall in love with, wince at the toture scenes when bits of flesh
are seared away and be absolutely shocked as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. The other great thing
about this book (if you buy the UK version) is the beautiful cover (First Law covers are also beautiful).
2009年9月27日星期日
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH & TRULY MORONIC STORE POLICIES
While I am in the States, my family sends me orders for various items they would like me to bring back. Since I have three daughters and a rather dishy wife, that means shopping in places such as abercrombie and fitch which are mall rat havens with pounding music, posters of meticulously depilated underage models artfully grabbing their crotches, and clusters of of sweet young things standing around staring into space, occasionally shouting “What?”. My standard approach is to bring a netbook or some printouts and convince one of these creatures to go get the stuff for me.
Usually this works out to everyone's satisfaction, but not today. I found myself in the abercrombie and fitch store next to Faneuil Hall in Boston, looking for a specific top (pictured) in a specific size. The store had only one left, which they refused to sell to me. When I asked why, the salesperson (and, eventually, the store manager) abercrombie and fitch explained to me that it was the last one in the store and belonged to the “Visual Team”, apparently an organizational entity with immense powers. They did offer to check whether it would be available in another store. The idea that they sell me their piece and get a new one from another store apparently did not occur to them.
A few years ago this would have occasioned some rather sarcastic attempts by yours truly to explain the lack of basic business instinct in this policy, but with advancing years I have come to understand that discussing anything with “managers” (who manage without authority, an interesting concept) is like hunting dairy cows with a scoped rifle, to steal a phrase from P. J. O’Rourke. So I shook my head and left.
As for the store policy, I just can’t get it: There is a recession, and retail is suffering along with everyone else. abercrombie and fitch revenues are stagnating and their stock is down there with the rest of the market. And here I am, a customer wanting to buy a product they have, and rather than sell it to me they instead saddle me down with their own bureaucracy.
Someone once said that in all companies, we start out working for the customer and end up working for the CFO. In abercrombie and fitch they work for the Visual Team – it clearly is more important how the store looks than whether any sales take place there. I don’t get it. But then again, I am just a lowly business school professor who thought selling stuff was what stores did.
Usually this works out to everyone's satisfaction, but not today. I found myself in the abercrombie and fitch store next to Faneuil Hall in Boston, looking for a specific top (pictured) in a specific size. The store had only one left, which they refused to sell to me. When I asked why, the salesperson (and, eventually, the store manager) abercrombie and fitch explained to me that it was the last one in the store and belonged to the “Visual Team”, apparently an organizational entity with immense powers. They did offer to check whether it would be available in another store. The idea that they sell me their piece and get a new one from another store apparently did not occur to them.
A few years ago this would have occasioned some rather sarcastic attempts by yours truly to explain the lack of basic business instinct in this policy, but with advancing years I have come to understand that discussing anything with “managers” (who manage without authority, an interesting concept) is like hunting dairy cows with a scoped rifle, to steal a phrase from P. J. O’Rourke. So I shook my head and left.
As for the store policy, I just can’t get it: There is a recession, and retail is suffering along with everyone else. abercrombie and fitch revenues are stagnating and their stock is down there with the rest of the market. And here I am, a customer wanting to buy a product they have, and rather than sell it to me they instead saddle me down with their own bureaucracy.
Someone once said that in all companies, we start out working for the customer and end up working for the CFO. In abercrombie and fitch they work for the Visual Team – it clearly is more important how the store looks than whether any sales take place there. I don’t get it. But then again, I am just a lowly business school professor who thought selling stuff was what stores did.
2009年9月25日星期五
MOA Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against autistic teen, judge says
abercrombie and fitch seems to have some serious issues understanding and accommodating people with disabilities. Just one of the retailer's many many downfalls in life.
The store located at the Mall of America in Minnesota discriminated against a 14-year-old autistic female customer in 2005, a judge said.
The clothing retailer was sued by the Minnesota Department abercrombie and fitch of Human Rights over the incident with an Apple Valley teen.
More from KAAL:
According to the human right's department's abercrombie and fitch summary of the case, store employees refused to let the teenager's sister accompany her into a fitting room, even after she explained that the girl had special needs.
The workers said the store policy was to allow only one person into a fitting room at a time in order to reduce the risk of shoplifting.
he girls' mother asked for a copy of the abercrombie and fitch policy at the store and repeatedly contacted the retailers corporate offices in search of more information. When she was denied information she filed a complaint with the human rights department.
When the human rights department was unable to solve the conflict directly with AF, they sued.
The judge said the store discriminated against the teen by not making reasonable accommodations for her disability. The judge also said the retailer officials were general assholes when approached about the incident, didn't follow their own policies, and even denied the girl was disabled.
The retailer must pay more than $155,000,abercrombie and fitch including $25,000 to the teen. AF plans to appeal.
AF was also in the news recently when a former employee said she was forced to work in the backroom because she had a prosthetic arm that didn't fit their image. The retailer was found to have broken employment law and had to pay her of unlawful harassment.
The store located at the Mall of America in Minnesota discriminated against a 14-year-old autistic female customer in 2005, a judge said.
The clothing retailer was sued by the Minnesota Department abercrombie and fitch of Human Rights over the incident with an Apple Valley teen.
More from KAAL:
According to the human right's department's abercrombie and fitch summary of the case, store employees refused to let the teenager's sister accompany her into a fitting room, even after she explained that the girl had special needs.
The workers said the store policy was to allow only one person into a fitting room at a time in order to reduce the risk of shoplifting.
he girls' mother asked for a copy of the abercrombie and fitch policy at the store and repeatedly contacted the retailers corporate offices in search of more information. When she was denied information she filed a complaint with the human rights department.
When the human rights department was unable to solve the conflict directly with AF, they sued.
The judge said the store discriminated against the teen by not making reasonable accommodations for her disability. The judge also said the retailer officials were general assholes when approached about the incident, didn't follow their own policies, and even denied the girl was disabled.
The retailer must pay more than $155,000,abercrombie and fitch including $25,000 to the teen. AF plans to appeal.
AF was also in the news recently when a former employee said she was forced to work in the backroom because she had a prosthetic arm that didn't fit their image. The retailer was found to have broken employment law and had to pay her of unlawful harassment.
2009年9月24日星期四
Abercrombie's int'l business growing
A stabilizing U.S. business and growing international opportunities make abercrombie and fitch. a good choice for investors, an analyst said Thursday.
Jefferies & Co.'s Randal Konik said in a client note that the retailer has likely seen the worst in the U.S. and should start to bump up some of its inventories, as lean product prompted by the recession has led the New Albany, abercrombie and fitch Ohio-based chain "to lose business in products where demand has improved."
The analyst also expects the company's international business to continue to grow. While overseas sales currently make up more than abercrombie and fitch 10 percent of total revenue, Konik predicts it will make up 25 percent of total sales next year.
Konik kept a "Buy" rating and $40 price target.
Shares of abercrombie and fitch, which has sued singer Beyonce Knowles over a proposed fragrance, gained 92 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $33.92 in afternoon trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $13.66 to $47.87.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights abercrombie and fitch reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Jefferies & Co.'s Randal Konik said in a client note that the retailer has likely seen the worst in the U.S. and should start to bump up some of its inventories, as lean product prompted by the recession has led the New Albany, abercrombie and fitch Ohio-based chain "to lose business in products where demand has improved."
The analyst also expects the company's international business to continue to grow. While overseas sales currently make up more than abercrombie and fitch 10 percent of total revenue, Konik predicts it will make up 25 percent of total sales next year.
Konik kept a "Buy" rating and $40 price target.
Shares of abercrombie and fitch, which has sued singer Beyonce Knowles over a proposed fragrance, gained 92 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $33.92 in afternoon trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $13.66 to $47.87.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights abercrombie and fitch reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
2009年9月23日星期三
A&F in Los Angeles
In this age of cookie-cutter retailers, Filson is unlike any other store in Colorado, which is home to so many outdoors-loving residents. The Cherry Creek store, abercrombie and fitch in fact, is one of only three Filson stores in the world and when it opened 3 ? years ago, became Filson’s first store anywhere other than at the C.C. Filson Company’s Seattle headquarters.
Filson itself has been serving outdoors lovers since 1897, selling rugged quality clothing and accessories through its catalogue and authorized dealers. In Colorado, those who can’t make it in to the Cherry Creek emporium can find Filson abercrombie and fitch authorized stores in Telluride (Black Bear Trading), Colorado Springs (Burlap Bag), Fort Collins (Jax Outdoor Gear), and Steamboat Springs (Zirkel Trading), among other outlets. Customers can also browse and order from the Filson web site, www.filson.com.
The Filson line, itself, is a throwback to the days long ago when abercrombie and fitch focused on the upscale hunting and fisherman markets. Marry that with Nordstrom-caliber customer service and voila, you wind up with a shopping experience extraordinaire.
Kevin Salsbury, a graduate of Denver South High School, is the lucky man who Filson tapped to open the Cherry Creek store and he has been its manager from opening day.
As Tobee stretches, walks abercrombie and fitch freely through the store and mooches doggie treats, Salsbury tells me Filson’s motto is “Might As Well Have The Best.” Among the most popular items in the store are Filson’s Tin Cloth Hunting Jacket ($195) and Mackinaw Cruiser ($279.50), which was first designed by company founder Clinton C. Filson in 1914 to keep timbermen warm no matter the elements.
While Tobee’s owner, J.C. McMullen is an actual hunter who loved the store so much as a customer he went to work for it, I took a liking to the store based on the look, feel and functionality of its male-dominated line. This is truly a “Men’s Store,” although Filson does have a growing selection of women’s clothes and accessories and Tobee could purchase a wool-lined dog coat or dog bed if she was so inclined.
Whether you are headed out to enjoy Colorado’s many fields and streams for Labor Day weekend or if you merely want to navigate the white-collar forests of Downtown Denver’s high-rises, Filson can outfit you stylishly and comfortably.
When I visited Filson with my wife and abercrombie and fitch teenage daughter this week, Tobee was so happy to get attention from my daughter that the Labrador literally knocked her off her feet with kisses.
As my wife observed, that never happened once to her when she dropped by the A&F in Los Angeles. The friendliest greeting my wife ever got from the beefcake doorman was a warm smile.
Filson itself has been serving outdoors lovers since 1897, selling rugged quality clothing and accessories through its catalogue and authorized dealers. In Colorado, those who can’t make it in to the Cherry Creek emporium can find Filson abercrombie and fitch authorized stores in Telluride (Black Bear Trading), Colorado Springs (Burlap Bag), Fort Collins (Jax Outdoor Gear), and Steamboat Springs (Zirkel Trading), among other outlets. Customers can also browse and order from the Filson web site, www.filson.com.
The Filson line, itself, is a throwback to the days long ago when abercrombie and fitch focused on the upscale hunting and fisherman markets. Marry that with Nordstrom-caliber customer service and voila, you wind up with a shopping experience extraordinaire.
Kevin Salsbury, a graduate of Denver South High School, is the lucky man who Filson tapped to open the Cherry Creek store and he has been its manager from opening day.
As Tobee stretches, walks abercrombie and fitch freely through the store and mooches doggie treats, Salsbury tells me Filson’s motto is “Might As Well Have The Best.” Among the most popular items in the store are Filson’s Tin Cloth Hunting Jacket ($195) and Mackinaw Cruiser ($279.50), which was first designed by company founder Clinton C. Filson in 1914 to keep timbermen warm no matter the elements.
While Tobee’s owner, J.C. McMullen is an actual hunter who loved the store so much as a customer he went to work for it, I took a liking to the store based on the look, feel and functionality of its male-dominated line. This is truly a “Men’s Store,” although Filson does have a growing selection of women’s clothes and accessories and Tobee could purchase a wool-lined dog coat or dog bed if she was so inclined.
Whether you are headed out to enjoy Colorado’s many fields and streams for Labor Day weekend or if you merely want to navigate the white-collar forests of Downtown Denver’s high-rises, Filson can outfit you stylishly and comfortably.
When I visited Filson with my wife and abercrombie and fitch teenage daughter this week, Tobee was so happy to get attention from my daughter that the Labrador literally knocked her off her feet with kisses.
As my wife observed, that never happened once to her when she dropped by the A&F in Los Angeles. The friendliest greeting my wife ever got from the beefcake doorman was a warm smile.
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