Abercrombie and Fitch used to be the mall destination of choice for teens who wanted to look hip. But all that may be over. Sales are plummeting at the store, which has banked on racy ads, dark stores and pounding music to attract teens and their wallets. As teens feel the pinch of the recession, they are turning to Abercrombie's competitors, Aeropostale and American Apparel. Abercrombie has two other stores it owns: Hollister which skews youmger and Ruehl, which markets to an older crowd. Hollister's prices are cheaper, so it isn't faring as poorly as Abercrombie.
This spring, spending by teenagers, a closely studied but rarely understood segment of the population, is off by 14 percent, a direct reflection of the economy, according to a report this month by the investment bank Piper Jaffray. And that is having a profound effect on an already unraveling mall culture, where deep discounters and stores known for heavy promotions are suddenly the popular destinations and aspirational brands are struggling to fit in.
Teenagers are noticing. "Labels are becoming less and less of a priority for people throughout my school," said Chelsea Orcutt, 17, a senior at the Mount Saint Mary Academy near Buffalo, where the Walden Galleria shopping center includes all of the above-mentioned stores, plus many more options for teenagers who favor a sunny West Coast surfer style or those who prefer a goth ensemble to highlight their black nail polish and lipstick. Ms. Orcutt, a bit less casual in her personal style, favors Macy's, Old Navy and American Eagle, which, she pointed out, keep teen budgets in mind.
"Labels and designer purses -- I'm not seeing them as frequently," said Ms. Orcutt, who had participated in a survey on teen spending for the Hearst Magazines network of Web sites and was approached to speak about the subject for this article. When asked why that might be, she replied, without hesitation, "because of the crisis."
During years of rampant consumerism, where teenagers shopped was often more closely tied to what was happening in the pages of US Weekly or InStyle than their families' financial circumstances. Empires like Abercrombie & Fitch were built on the premise that their products, even $80 jeans and $30 T-shirts with provocative graphics, would be perceived as luxury items if they were sold in the right way. But as teenagers' priorities rapidly shift away from brands they now perceive as too expensive, the pecking order of mall stores has changed.
Abercrombie has major problems that won't be easily solved. Many experts say that spending patterns are unlikely to change much, even when the economy recovers. As for us, we just wish Abercrombie would turn the music down. Our ears were ringing the last time we visited and we literally had to yell to be heard. It was ok, though. The sales clerk just yelled right back. You know, in a nice way.
