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Company Profile - Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

. 6301 Fitch Path New Albany, OH 43054

Phone: 614-283-6500 Fax: 614-283-6710 Website: www.abercrombie.com
Ticker Symbol: ANF

Key Facts

Number 94 in Fortune’s list of “Fastest Growing Companies.” Had its IPO in 1996. The A&F Quarterly catalog has morphed into a quasi-magazine, complete with feature stories, celebrity profiles, and an “Ask A&F” column. Key Financial Facts 2002 revenue: $1,596 million 1-yr. growth rate: 17 percent

Personnel Highlights Number of employees: 16,700 1-yr. growth rate: 20 percent

Company Overview Founded in 1892, Abercrombie & Fitch buys, distributes, and sells high-quality, casual clothes and accessories for men, women, and children. Abercrombie's main market for its sports and outdoor wear is the preppy, active youth—a far cry from its early days of catering to rugged sportsmen, most notably Teddy Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway.

Since its makeover in the ’90s, the company has grown from a small retailer to a major chain of close to 500 stores. Abercrombie also sells its goods through a catalog-cum-magazine called A&F Quarterly. The company also has a kid's clothing chain simply called Abercrombie and a store for teens called Hollister Co. In line with its market segment, A&F actively recruits teens and twenty-somethings to staff its stores.

Abercrombie has come under fire in recent years for running provocative, semi-nude and nude photos in its quarterly catalog, complete with sex and drinking tips among other things. In 2002, it also got a lot of heat from the Asian community for T-shirts imprinted with politically incorrect depictions of Asians; the company pulled the T-shirts from the line. And family advocacy groups were outraged when Abercrombie came out with a line of thong underwear, bearing sexually suggestive themes, for kids also in 2002.

Nevertheless, the company’s sales don’t appear to be adversely affected by its sometimes bleeding edge products and marketing ploys. It has continued to grow in size and post a steady profit margin over the past several years.

Major Line of Business : Retail

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