"Stylish" Can Not Save A&F Sales Decline

A row of abdominal muscles male fashion, attracting a large number of fans to watch, and even some customers queuing in the morning, many Chinese consumers are still in April this year, the United States youth clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF.NYSE) (hereinafter referred to as " A&F In the first flagship store in mainland China, the landmark marketing method of Shanghai Jingan Kerry Center was impressed.

However, due to its bad performance, A&F recently announced its announcement before the US stock market. Its CEO and board member Mike Jeffries retired and the decision came into force immediately. News prompted the A&F stock price rose 7.8%.

According to the financial report, in the third quarter ended November 2nd, the overall sales of A&F group fell by 12% to 911 million 400 thousand US dollars, lower than the expected US $916 million after the market cut. The adjusted net profit dropped by 25% to 30 million 400 thousand US dollars due to the decrease in the number of people in the mall and the increase in discounts, while the same store sales decreased by 10%, of which the US market dropped by 7% and the international market fell by 15%.

"Continued weakness in store traffic, especially in the European market, shows signs of slowing down. This is the reason for the disappointing third quarter results. In addition, the decline in sales of A&F logo products is also causing pressure on the company. The company will continue to reduce such products to meet consumer demand." A&F CEO Mike Jeffries said.

This is one of A&F's consecutive poor performance reports. As of February 1, 2014, the A&F group's total revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year decreased by 12% to $1 billion 300 million, and net profit shrank from $157 million 200 thousand in the 2012 fiscal year to 66 million 100 thousand US dollars.

At the beginning of this year, under the open pressure of radical investor Engaged Capital LLC, A&F group had to make a series of personnel changes. First, the group announced that the chairmen and CEO positions would be separated, and Michael Jeffries would no longer serve as chairman of the board.

Since then, Engaged Capital LLC has been forcing the A&F group to reorganize its board of directors, replacing four former independent directors with retail and costume experience.

Founded in 1892 in A&F, New York, it has a total of Abercrombie and Fitch, Abercrombie Kids, Hollister and other sub brands, including men's wear, women's wear, children's wear and other products, located in the University consumer group, is the United States casual wear brand.

Today, this is the most popular among American teenagers. Clothing brand It is being attacked by the fast fashion brands such as H&M, Forever 21, Zara, and the change of consumption habits such as e-commerce.

In comparison, the world's second largest apparel retailer H&M The results of the third quarter ending August showed that post tax turnover increased by 21% to 38 billion 805 million kronor ($5 billion 420 million) and net profit of SEK 5 billion 296 million (US $740 million), representing an annual increase of 20%.

"No matter from design or price, A&F and other traditional youth clothing can not compete with fast fashion brands." A garment industry insider told reporters that he had to face spanformation.

In addition to personnel adjustment, A&F's spanformation strategy also includes plans to "increase" the group's A&F brand of its namesake brand, and is ready to create new product classification, market planning and price positioning for older consumer groups. At the same time, it will spanform its brand Hollister into a fast fashion brand. At the end of January this year, Arthur Martinez, who just took over as chairman of the board of directors of the group, said it was discussing with suppliers to establish a fast response supply chain. In addition, A&F also plans to improve the business of product classification, procurement and inventory.

For the retirement of Mike Jeffries, A&F group said in a statement that the board has hired headhunting companies to identify the successor of Mike Jeffries from within and outside the group. The group's former non executive chairman, Arthur Martinez, will become the executive chairman and lead the team in charge of the daily operation of the group until the new chief executive takes office.

Last year, the company closed 62 of its stores in the United States, including 16 Hollister stores. It is reported that A&F group will be the same year as a whole store sales decline expected from the former 3%~4% to 4%~6%, and is expected to close 60 stores in the financial year.