Abercrombie and Fitch
Abercrombie and Fitch was initially started in 1892 by David T. Abercrombie. An outdoorsman himself, Abercrombie wanted to create a clothing line that was suitable for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and hunting. Ezra Fitch, a lover of the Abercrombie clothing line, decided to become a partner in the company, this making what we know today as Abercrombie & Fitch. This partnership began in 1900 and subsequently ended in 1907 when David Abercrombie resigned from the company due to personal differences. The company proved to be a success and had much interest in expanding their company in order to draw in more business. The first major executive decision came shortly after Abercrombie’s resignation. The A&F catalogue was a cross between a clothing magazine and a guide to the outdoors. It gave information and advice to campers, hunters and fishers and also simultaneously provided a wardrobe for these activities. This catalogue increased both sales and notoriety. It brought Abercrombie and Fitch to people all around the world. Unfortunately, success was not everlasting. The company endured very tough financial times during the early 1960’s and 70’s and eventually declared bankruptcy in 1977. In 1988, success came again when The Limited Inc. bought Abercrombie and Fitch. Abercrombie is now a 223.0 million dollar corporation.
In a second attempt to further expand the company horizons, an e-commerce site was created. This site is interesting because its main focus is not the clothing but the “lifestyle”. Upon entering the Abercrombie and Fitch website, the first thing the consumer sees is a half naked man, sprawled on the ground, eating a plate full of fruit. It is just to be inferred that he is wearing Abercrombie and Fitch clothing. This just shows how the image of Abercrombie is much more important than the clothing itself. The site itself is bright and summery. The attitude is carefree, active and sexy. Maneuvering ones way around this website is relatively easy. The links include Lifestyle, A&F TV, A&F Quarterly (the magazine/catalogue), Company, and Shop A&F. Other links include, music, movies, downloads, postcards, photos, and “hot” sites. The website seems to be almost completely focused on drawing the consumer into the lifestyle of Abercrombie and Fitch. The information the company gives is very limited. For example, throughout the entire website, there is not one mention of a company mission statement, yet there is a plethora of information about the company’s financial standings.
The specialty retailer of women's clothes, footwear, and accessories-aimed majority to young teens and women in their twenties, was founded by the the Lawrence brothers-Dan, Frank, and Larry.
For example, lifestyle is one the major psychological factors that pushes the organization’s strategy. Lululemon wanted to create a “community hub where people could learn and discuss the physical aspects of healthy living, mindfulness and living a life of possibility”. Customers buy high end ‘lulu’ leggings to be part of the self-transformation movement lifestyle. The clienteles who purchase Lululemon’s leggings also perceive them to be of higher quality, thus don’t mind spending more if they receive better quality in return. Overall these psychological factors make Lululemon a popular exclusive brand that promotes the idea of a better lifestyle, this consumer behavior has helped Lululemon become more known with many sociocultural influences. With the increase of yoga and social media throughout the years, Lululemon is presented as a staple for yogi’s and athletes online and in person. Yoga instructors teach classes, pose in Instagram photos, and participate in self-exploration experiences all while wearing Lululemon leggings. This sparks the interest of consumers new to the lifestyle who view this as an influence to buy a pair. Lululemon also have a loyal clientele base that rave about the quality and comfort that come with buying a pair of Lululemon leggings. With the popularity, and the higher cost, many see buying a pair of leggings as
Abercrombie and Fitch is an American retailer who has been facing many outstanding issues and is at risk of disappearing. For the past two decades, the company has been facing severe controversy. Abercrombie and Fitch has been long criticized for lack diversity and inclusion. The company excludes minorities and plus-sized customers from its stores. This controversy has brought many financial problems to Abercrombie and Fitch.
J. Crew, also known as J. Crew Group Inc., is a private label company known for its preppy fashions that are fashionable yet costly. Essentially, the company was owned by the Cinader family for most of its history. Mitchell Cinader and Saul Charles founded the company in 1947. It was originally known as Popular Merchandise Inc. doing business as the Popular Club Plan, in which Mitchell’s son Arthur was the overseer. The company sold women’s clothing through in-home demonstrations. In the early 1980’s, Cinader and Charles observed catalog retailers such as Land’s End, Talbots and L.L. Bean reporting rising sales in revenue. With intentions to increase sales and duplicate success of these well known companies, Popular Club Plan began its own catalog (http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/j-crew-group-inc-history/).
The company that I chose to research for my company profile paper is on the clothing store Francesca’s. Francesca’s is a boutique like store that contains different women’s fashion trends that range from clothing, jewelry, and shoes. Francesca’s also offers specialty items and gifts that include candles, wall art, and gag gifts (Coltrin, 2010). The reason I chose Francesca’s for this project is because this store interests me. I first started shopping at this store when I was about sixteen years old. The store quickly became very popular for my friends and I as the store offered something that we had never seen before; boutique items for reasonable prices. Francesca’s is becoming increasingly popular among women of all ages that are looking for fashionable one-of-a-kind items without breaking the bank.
A&F Quarterly was a magazine-catalog hybrid periodical sold by Abercrombie and Fitch from fall 1997 to December 2003. Circulation for the Quarterly averaged one million to 1.2 million during the late 1990s. The publication, released four times a year, featured articles about college life, photo essays by Bruce Weber, and advertisements for the company's clothing. In addition to this, the company's 280-page book included nude young adult models in highly suggestive poses, as well as articles on sex -- elements apparently intended to boost the clothing retailer's brand among college-age customers.
Under Armour is a leading athletic clothing line directed towards the overall athlete who is looking for the most comfort during extracurricular activities. The mission of the company is, "to provide the world with technically advanced products engineered with exclusive fabric construction, supreme moisture management, and proven innovation. In short, every Under Armour product is doing something for you; it's making you better."
1) With which of the international competitors listed in the case is it most interesting to compare Inditex’s financial results? Why? What do comparisons indicate about Inditex’s relative operating economics? Its relative capital efficiency? Note that while the electronic version of Exhibit 6 automates some of the comparisons, you will probably want to dig further into them?
The company can improve its channel strategy to enhance its current performance in one way. The company’s website is too reliant in the physical stores. The website has photos of the physical store ostensibly to help customers to connect with it. This idea seems well founded. However, the target market for any company that operates an online shopping system is not local. It transcends geographical boundaries. The company needs to consider how it can make the online shopping experience authentic and complete for customers who may never visit any of its physical stores. A website makes a company a global player. In this regard, the company needs to expand its channel strategy to take into account an expanded potential market. This shift in strategy will increase the sales the company makes.
The Silverman family first founded American Eagle Outfitters in 1977. They operated specialty clothing stores under the name Retail Ventures. In 1980 the Silverman’s encountered financial troubles when the Schottenstein family bought out 50% of the Retail Ventures. In 1991 the Schottenstein family bought the rest of Retail Ventures and opened 153 American Eagle Outfitters. By late 2000 the company had introduced 46 new stores in Canada. American Eagle had approximately $2 million in annual sales in 2003 and now operates over 800 stores in the United States and Canada (http://www.hoovers.com/american-eagle-outfitters/--ID__17231--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml).
One of the most successful clothing brands in the world, Polo Ralph Lauren has built its success around more than just its line of luxurious designer clothes, but the company is one of the top marketing designers also. It was awarded “ Luxury Brand of the Year” in 2010 by the Luxury Daily. A company that was founded by a man named Ralph Lifchitz, better known as Ralph Lauren of the Bronx, New York in 1968. Since the age of 12, Lauren’s had a strong appeal and taste for looking classy. He would spend the money he earned working with his father after school, purchasing expensive suites. In his latter years, while working for a company called A. Rivetz & Co., Lauren began designing wide ties, the beginning of what latter evolved into the giant clothing empire known as Polo Ralph Lauren. The success of his designer ties caught fire quickly, retail giant Bloomingdales was the first company to endorse Ralph Lauren’s ties, but that ended quickly, when Lauren refused to narrow his ties, and stuck to his product line. Lauren’s success in the designer clothes business was unusual for someone who studied business at City College. In 1968, he founded the company Polo Fashions, a company that would later expand its market, and is among one of the top designer brands in the world today.
Claude Levi-Strauss was originally from Brussels and died at the age of 100 in Paris, France. He published many works including Tristes Tropiques which was first published in 1955. I am using the Penguin publication from 1992.
Next is in terms of the design and aesthetics. Layout that being used for this website is a plain white which easier people to read the text that is in black, in contrast and suitable for the concept of showroom online. The font is also suits which is not too big and not too small to be read by people. To highlight the main subject or the main product, the font is being bold to alert customers that they choose the right one. There is no audio available for this website or even a video. But somehow, as it was a home furnishing website, most of the pictures being used by the website is in JPEG format to deliver a clear view of the products to customers.
An overview of the project, I was required to take an existing brand and redesign the online webpage for the body shop. The first step in this procedure was the “discover phase”. In this stage I inquired about the organization, what it resembled, the current audience, what it represented for and how it was recognized. The second stage was the “define phase”. In this stage I think up with those image features I would like the organization to symbolize. I also made a few strategies that would attract new target audience to purchase online products. Lastly, brand positioning was also the main things for the e-commerce organization. The third stage was known as the “design phase”, this is the point at which I made the new webpage design of the organization general look and feel and more. The last stage was the “develop phase”. This is where I took the old webpage design to enhance it in a better new webpage design.
in this segment are often brand conscious and enjoy the latest fads and trends. They...