INTRODUCTION
Michael S. Jeffries, Abercrombie’s CEO, told stock analysts in May that the four-story New York store, which opened in November, has drawn “a very large percentage of international customers, a very large percentage European,” adding, “We are thrilled with what we are learning about running high-volume stores. It gives us huge confidence for the international potential of this brand.” (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007)
Then, Abercrombie & Fitch decided to expand its brand throughout the european market.
Abercrombie & Fitch has recently opened its first store in Europe. Indeed, on March 22, 2007, Abercrombie & Fitch opened a store in Mayfair, London. It is a big success, indeed the store generated a volume of $280,000 in its first 6 hours of operation. (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007)
On July 13, 2007, Abercrombie & Fitch Head Office based in New Albany, Ohio, United States of America, announced “its plans to expand its retail presence throughout Europe. The Company is in the process of securing locations in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Sweden and plans to identify additional key locations in the United Kingdom.” (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007)
Because of the success of the first european store based in London, the Board of management decided that the new team based in England will be responsible for the expansion of the company throughout Europe.
A contract between Abercrombie & Fitch and PBS Real Estate has already been signed. Indeed, “Abercrombie & Fitch has retained PBS Real Estate, LLC (PBS Real Estate), and its Principal Laura Pomerantz, as exclusive European and United Kingdom real estate consultant to identify locations that best support the Abercrombie & Fitch brand attributes.” (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007)
The Board of Management based in United States of America thinks that it is a good time for expansion throughout Europe. Indeed, Mike Jeffries, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Abercrombie & Fitch stated: “We have been evaluating the European markets for some time and it is clear that the demand for the Abercrombie & Fitch brand is very strong”. He added: “We believe that now is the ideal time for us to execute our international growth strategy with expansion throughout Europe.” (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007)
As mentioned above, Abercrombie & Fitch plans to expand in many markets throughout Europe. As the Marketing Manager of Abercrombie & Fitch Ltd., based in United Kingdom, I got the responsibility to choose which market is the best in order to keep on making the brand successful.
The Italian Centre Shop shows many attributes as for how they are able to build on their strengths. This in the end helps a company to expand and grow further to improve their internal performance and as well by gaining more consumers (Kerin, et al., 2015). Firstly, the company’s main strength relies on the location of the different branches, being placed strategically so it is easier to bring in more consumers as well as being easily accessible for people around those areas. Two of the three locations in Edmonton are situated beside shopping centers, Southgate mall and West Edmonton mall, which in the West end is the most popular attraction of the city. The third branch is located in North Edmonton which is known for the heart of “Little Italy”(Spinelli, 2016). Secondly, the Italian Centre Shop sells a variety of merchandise and different cuisine from all around the world, the main place being Italy and others which include: Spain, Romania, Portugal, Ukraine and Poland (Spinelli, 2016). This helps to expand the company’s target market while still keeping
A positive to expanding to Canada is that Canadian shoppers are similar to American shoppers, ideally making this a good target market for growth (Fiorletta, 2015). In an interview regarding expansion in Canada, CO-CEO Walter Rob said, “Our efforts in Canada are part of the effort to grow.” “We think the opportunity for fresh, healthy foods is larger now that it’s ever been”. “And we intend to grow as fast as we have ever grown — 40 new stores next year, 42-44 for the following year.” “That’s 10% square footage growth on top of 15 million square feet of retail we already have.” “People have said maybe we should stop our growth.” “I said, no, we are not going to do that because our strategy is working.” “There’s no reason to stop.” “There’s every reason to keep going.” (Vieira,
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
After co-branding the Macy’s name with local Federated stores in 2003, the Macy’s division became the central focus for revamping. Federated descri...
I would suggest that they incorporate more diversity in their ads and campaigns to reach different ethnicities if they want to continue to expand. Also, in stores, particularly the Willow Grove, PA location, is very large and spacious. Upon entering the store it is primarily women’s apparel and accessories, as well as men’s. Maybe the company can incorporate more of its products in this location, to provide consumers with more of a product assortment.
O'Keefe, Benjamin. "Petitioned Abercrombie & Fitch." Change.org (n.d.): n. pag. Nov. 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. .
Primark is a subsidiary company of the Associated British Foods (ABF). It was first opened in Dublin in June 1969, which under the name Penneys. Four more stores were launched within a year in Ireland afterward. Currently, Primark operates in over 270 stores in 9 different countries in Europe such as United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, etc. Primark capitalised on the fast-fashion tendency that began in the 1990s as well as the capability to produce garments cheaply in Asia where clothing values fell dramatically (Shawcross, 2014). It offers a diverse range of products which includes kids clothing, menswear, womenswear, accessories, home ware, beauty products and confectionary. According to TNS market research ranking, Primark ranks the second
...ries such as Spain, Belgium, UK, Japan, and China. Future growth can be obtained through positioning current brands in those emerging markets.
For Burberry, it recently closed 17 and opened 18 stores in Dubai, London, Moscow, New York, Seoul and Tokyo. Its various channel of distributions like retail, wholesale and licensing can help to expand those opportunities to the company. However, it seems that Burberry rely too much in Chinese market both in region or as tourists with approximately 30% of its sales in Chinese market (Financial times 2016). As mentioned in PESTEL, if the Chinese market experience the decline or political issue, it will significantly influence the sales and performance. Moreover, the company is also trying to attract the young generation for future
I believe American Eagle Outfitters should try to venture into the international market to increase their sales and become more known worldwide. It would benefit American Eagle to become an international company also to broaden their target market and customer loyalty. Introducing a business line in their company can also benefit American Eagle since some of their competitors have not entered into that arena as of yet. If American Eagle delivers a strong marketing campaign and increases promotion of their company this would definitely benefit the company in the ling run against the changing market.
Sakarya, S., Eckman, M. & Hyllegard, K. H. (2007). Market Selection for International Expansion - Assessing Opportunities in Emerging Markets. International Marketing Review, 24(2), 208-238.
Around the world they have 3,100 stores. Most of the stores are in Germany, United Kingdom, United States, France, Spain, and Sweden. The stores are in every continent.
Korea's apparel industry has shown steady growth over the past few years with the rapid embrace by its consumers of foreign fashions, an increasingly wider variety of apparel in the marketplace and evolving industry marketing channels. The emergence of new distribution networks for apparel has occurred in tandem with changing consumer tastes and purchasing patterns, most notably through E-commerce, TV home shopping, fashion outlets, and discount stores, which for the most part, weren't in existence before the 1997-98 economic crisis. These new channels now account for 40% of all apparel sold in Korea, while traditional channels, such as department and chain stores, comprise the remaining 60%. It is expected that these relatively new marketing options for apparel companies will become even more important in the near future, as Korean firms strive to meet their consumers' increasingly demanding preferences for a wider variety of purchasing options. At the same time, a more diverse selection of apparel has become available for consumers, especially with the larger number of Korean firms offering imported fashions. As a result, more and more Korean consumers have been switching from domestic apparel to foreign brands, while they also have shown greater interest in foreign-labeled apparel that is produced locally. In 2002, the total market size of this industry was USD 15.9 billion, up 5.5% over 2001, and it is forecast to grow by 3%, to USD 16.4 billion, in 2003. END SUMMARY
Dawson, J.A. (2001), "Strategy and opportunism in European retail internationalisation", British Journal of Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 253-66.
...enture into overseas market comes with expectations as well as uncertainties due to unfamiliarity. Charles and Keith, the fashion retailer, has to understand clearly that what appeals in one market might not be accepted in the others and this is almost the same for all industries. Thus, a thorough research on cultural background has to be done before entering an unfamiliar ground.