An Abercrombie & Fitch store in Virginia Beach, Va. has had it’s racy display photos removed by city police, and its manager was cited for a misdemeanor obscenity charge. The store had two photos of questionable images. One of the photos features three shirtless men, one with butt cleavage sticking out. The other of a woman with one of her breasts almost fully exposed.
Apparently, the city code prohibits the display of “obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles.” Police say they gave the abercrombie outlet warnings to remove the images after customers complained, but their warnings were ignored. In response to the charges and controversy, hollister released the following statement:
“The marketing images in question show less skin than you see any summer day at the beach. And certainly less than the plumber working on your kitchen sink.”
The company plans to pursue its legal rights aggressively, while the manager of the store faces a fine of up to $2000 and a year in jail.
2009年10月18日星期日
2009年10月14日星期三
Abercrombie has mismanaged this economic downturn more than any other retailer
I admit I was a bit surprised when I read this Time article, abercrombie and fitch: The World's Worst Recession Brand?. Mainly because, I'll be honest here, my family could rarely afford anything there in good times so I assumed that those who shopped there and had that kind of money to spend on their line of clothing were more "recession proof" than we are.
It appears that the expression, "things are tough all over" is really true. Part of the recommended article:
In this recession, there are struggling apparel retailers all across the country. Then there's abercrombie. The upscale teen retailer has suffered 10 straight months of double-digit same-store-sales declines. In the second quarter of 2009 alone, sales were down an eye-popping 30% across the company's three name outlets: the flagship Abercrombie brand, which has 567 stores; Hollister, a 520-store teen chain; and Ruehl, a 29-store chain for young adults that Abercrombie shut down in June. Abercrombie & Fitch lost $26.7 million, which includes $24.4 million in charges associated with the closing of Ruehl, in the second quarter. During the same period in 2008, Abercrombie scored a $77.8 million profit. "hollister clothing has mismanaged this economic downturn more than any other retailer," says Britt Beemer, CEO of America's Research Group, a retail consulting firm.
It appears that the expression, "things are tough all over" is really true. Part of the recommended article:
In this recession, there are struggling apparel retailers all across the country. Then there's abercrombie. The upscale teen retailer has suffered 10 straight months of double-digit same-store-sales declines. In the second quarter of 2009 alone, sales were down an eye-popping 30% across the company's three name outlets: the flagship Abercrombie brand, which has 567 stores; Hollister, a 520-store teen chain; and Ruehl, a 29-store chain for young adults that Abercrombie shut down in June. Abercrombie & Fitch lost $26.7 million, which includes $24.4 million in charges associated with the closing of Ruehl, in the second quarter. During the same period in 2008, Abercrombie scored a $77.8 million profit. "hollister clothing has mismanaged this economic downturn more than any other retailer," says Britt Beemer, CEO of America's Research Group, a retail consulting firm.
2009年10月13日星期二
Abercrombie & Fitch fined in MOA discrimination case
A judge ordered retail giant abercrombie and fitch to pay $115,000 for discriminating against a 14-year-old autistic customer at its Mall of America store.
The civil penalty, the largest of its kind in at least two years, came four years after store employees refused to let the autistic teen join her older sister in a fitting room because of the clothing chain's anti-shoplifting policy. The store refused to relent even after the sister, and later the girls' mother, explained that the 14-year-old couldn't be alone because of her disability.
The confrontation humiliated the girl, who testified that hollister the incident made her feel like a "misfit."
"She was singled out and required to hear abercrombie her sister and mother repeatedly ask for accommodations based on her disability, in front of a long line of customers, at a store that markets itself to young people as a purveyor of a particularly desirable 'look' " administrative law judge Kathleen D. Sheehy declared in her ruling.
When several complaints to the company were ignored, the girl's mother, Elizabeth Maxson of Apple Valley, took the case to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The investigation encountered fierce resistance from Abercrombie & Fitch, a New Albany, Ohio-based company that posted $3.5 billion in revenues last year. The company even denied that the girl, identified only as M.M. in court documents, had a disability until the first day of the administrative law hearing in April. She was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 2.
In her ruling, Sheehy found that Abercrombie & Fitch violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act and ordered the company to pay the girl $25,000 for mental anguish and suffering. The company also was ordered to pay $25,000 to the state as a civil penalty, $41,069 in attorney's fees, $20,441 to the human rights department for its expenses and $3,753 in other expenses.
The civil penalty, the largest of its kind in at least two years, came four years after store employees refused to let the autistic teen join her older sister in a fitting room because of the clothing chain's anti-shoplifting policy. The store refused to relent even after the sister, and later the girls' mother, explained that the 14-year-old couldn't be alone because of her disability.
The confrontation humiliated the girl, who testified that hollister the incident made her feel like a "misfit."
"She was singled out and required to hear abercrombie her sister and mother repeatedly ask for accommodations based on her disability, in front of a long line of customers, at a store that markets itself to young people as a purveyor of a particularly desirable 'look' " administrative law judge Kathleen D. Sheehy declared in her ruling.
When several complaints to the company were ignored, the girl's mother, Elizabeth Maxson of Apple Valley, took the case to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The investigation encountered fierce resistance from Abercrombie & Fitch, a New Albany, Ohio-based company that posted $3.5 billion in revenues last year. The company even denied that the girl, identified only as M.M. in court documents, had a disability until the first day of the administrative law hearing in April. She was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 2.
In her ruling, Sheehy found that Abercrombie & Fitch violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act and ordered the company to pay the girl $25,000 for mental anguish and suffering. The company also was ordered to pay $25,000 to the state as a civil penalty, $41,069 in attorney's fees, $20,441 to the human rights department for its expenses and $3,753 in other expenses.
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