what happened to abercrombie and fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch, a near-luxury casual wear retailer, has had a tumultuous history. The brand was founded in 1892 as an outdoor retailer and survived the Great Depression, but by the middle of the century, sales had slumped, and Abercrombie filed for bankruptcy in 1977. In 1978, the brand was acquired by Oshmans Sporting Goods, a Texas-based retailer. Abercrombie & Fitchs former CEO, Mike Jeffries, turned the brand into an all-American, exclusive place for high school and college students to shop from, with provocative advertising campaigns using near-nude models. However, the company became consistently engulfed in controversy, and its popularity began to decline as it lost relevance with its target audience and suffered from intense competitive pressure. Abercrombie & Fitch shifted its focus, toned down the sexually suggestive marketing, and expanded its sizes. The brand has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years thanks to a new, more inclusive image: it revamped its stores, expanded its size range, and made its pricing more approachable. Abercrombie & Fitchs recent sales shattered Wall Street estimates, according to its 2023 fiscal second-quarter report. The brand brought in $935.3 million in revenue, far outpacing Wall Street estimates of $842.4 million in revenue.