Abercrombie 效仿 Aritzia 策略，引入第三方品牌

We're in Soho, the heart of New York City's fashion district, where Abercrombie is unveiling a new store concept. Let's go inside and check it out. Opened in early June, the new 10,000 square foot space is a departure from the heydays of the 2000s, when the stores were infamous for loud music and low lighting. One of the biggest pain points that customers have is when they're shopping online, they go into a store, but the same merchandise isn't available.

So what Abercrombie did here is they expanded it into a much larger location that allows them to carry a broader assortment so shoppers can go online and actually find the same stuff in the store. We heard from our customer they want the in-store experience. It showcases the brand's 130 year history, as well as what Abercrombie is today and where we want to go into the future. The company grew annual sales by over 98% between 2020 and 2024, but in the most recent fiscal year, sales dropped and now its stock is down about 30% year to date.

To make sure it can keep growing sales and acquiring new customers, it's expanding into third party accessories like Sperry and Hunter, and of course, highlighting its own brand as well. In some ways, the company is taking a page out of rival Aritzia's playbook in its decision to add outside brands. The Canadian fashion brand has long offered external footwear brands in its stores and online. During its most recent fiscal year, sales grew 35%, with comps up 27%.

Part of the reason Aritzia has been so successful is because they've just kind of stayed top of mind, stayed really relevant for that consumer. I think Abercrombie is just trying to do the same thing, ensure continued relevance. This is the first time that we're carrying footwear, full sunglasses and handbags, all in a dedicated space in an Abercrombie store. So here we have our own branded footwear, but we're also bringing in other brands that are very relevant to our customer and what they're looking for.

Since partnering with Sperry in April, Abercrombie has since expanded and is now selling shoes from Puma, Frye, Hunter and G.H. bass. We're going to learn a lot from these in terms of what our customers are gravitating towards. We've seen other companies do this. Urban Outfitters is one where they stand out in the sense that they do have their own brands. They're more of a balanced mix of own brand and third party brands.

They have Vans, they have Nike, they have UGG. And I think they realized that particularly for their customer, people look for brands in that category. They don't want the private label. They want the brands that they recognize. So I think that might be where Abercrombie kind of sees this opportunity to say, we have a young female consumer, you have Foot Locker, you have JD, they tend to skew more male. Where else can they shop for a variety of brands?

Let's at least offer them the brands that they're shopping all in one place, because no one else is really doing that outside of a company like Genesco and a little bit Urban Outfitters. For now, the only place Abercrombie is offering all of the brands together is at this new store. But based on how the release performs, they could be expanded to more stores and online in the future. I think that this is a strategic move on their part to bring in a like minded customer.

A customer who has potential to shop the brand, maybe isn't already, and now will be introduced to the brand that way. Overall category expansion will be one of the keys to Abercrombie's next chapter of growth.