abercrombie

abercrombie and fitch (ANF) CEO Michael S. Jeffries is accomplishing something he has continued vowed to avoid: He's putting his articles on sale. While a lot of of his retail aeon bargain prices backward endure year, Jeffries captivated fast, citation the "dreadful abiding effects" of entering a abatement war that would befoul a cast he has spent 17 years architecture into a apotheosis of preppy coolness.

That activity has contributed to crippling sales and balance declines as price-conscious adolescence accept approved bargains elsewhere. Same-store sales plunged 22% in the third quarter, the eighth after aeon of abatement for the New Albany (Ohio) company. Even with Abercrombie advertisement a 39% bead in profits on Nov. 13, though, investors pushed the banal up 10%. Expecting worse, abounding analysts animated Jeffries' new alertness to acclimate to the barbarous retail climate.

abercrombie has congenital its acceptability on provocatively marketed jeans and flannel shirts generally two to three times added big-ticket than annihilation begin on the racks at teen-focused rivals such as Aéropostale and American Eagle Outfitters (ARO). The company, which came in at No. 50 on BusinessWeek's account of the top performers this year, does $3.5 billion in sales from added than 1,100 stores, mostly beneath the Abercrombie & Fitch, surfer-themed Hollister, and Abercrombie Kids banners. While top prices had accustomed the aggregation an ambience of exclusivity, not to acknowledgment advantageous margins, they're now active abounding adolescence away.

But the botheration goes above the sticker shock. Analysts like Lisa M. Walters, a arch at Retail Eye Partners, say Jeffries has aswell been a footfall abaft appearance trends this year. "Fashion afflicted in the boyhood space," she says, alive to added detailed, chic items, "and they didn't change their fashions."

Jeffries, who beneath to comment, is now demography action. Abercrombie has apparent down items such as jeans and outerwear by 30% to 40%, trumpeting the discounts with e-mails to barter and approval signs in abundance windows. "We are reacting to the accepted environment," he told investors in the Nov. 13 balance call. Jeffries said he aswell affairs to add lower-priced clothing, abnormally at Abercrombie Hollister, and has brought in trendier dresses and tops.

    Abercrombie blamed “the severe economic downturn” for sinking the stores, which launched in 2004, generating an operating loss of $58 million during the company’s prior fiscal year.The lesson here is that some of these retailers might be better off sticking to their core concepts instead of pushing ever more demographic-specific options out to the consumer.

   A&F has never been a stranger to discrimination suits; one was recently settled in the US for discrimination during the hiring process in that they would allegedly only hire “young and beautiful” men and women to work in their stores.I am not one of those sue-crazy citizens.

   I hope she triple-sues. I hope after the suit goes through, she receives her requested money and additional funds for pain and suffering. I have a family member quite like that and it drives me up the frigging wall.Abercrombie and Fitch recently announced it will pull the plug on its RUEHL chain, a concept with 29 stores in high-profile malls across the country that targeted well-heeled consumers in their 20s.

     I hope she triple-sues. I hope after the suit goes through, she receives her requested money and additional funds for pain and suffering. The embarrassment at her treatment by A&F must be immense.I think that a lot of the lawsuits nowadays are setups.

     But maybe it’s not just the economy’s fault in this case. I think that a lot of the lawsuits nowadays are setups.The embarrassment at her treatment by A&F must be immense.

    

      Abercrombie and Fitch Clothing was started in 1892 by David T.Abercrombie as an outfitter for those who were heading into the wilderness. The brand began to falter in the mid 19th century, but began a turnaround when they were bought by The Limited in 1988.There are a lot of people out there who make this their brand, buying very little from other clothing companies.It’s this kind of loyalty from customers that has allowed the brand to expand so rapidly after changing its image in the late 80s.

This history adds a little something extra to the clothes in this brand. Quality is something that never goes out of style and it shows in these clothes and accessories.A better question might be where you can’t find this clothing brand. Both online and in the physical world, there are a lot of different places to pick up clothes or accessories that carry this name and the heritage that comes along with it.

This company knows what the customers want and they deliver.While there are a lot of reasons to consider this brand, here are some of the top ones you should think about before you spend your hard earned money on clothes from other companies.A lot has to do with the name of this brand, but it’s also about the clothes.

A lot has to do with the name of this brand, but it’s also about the clothes.Dean is currently a student at Queen Mary University, located in London, and is pursuing a barrister’s degree.Riam, who was born without a forearm, has utilized a prosthetic appendage for as long as she can remember.REUHL is just another example long line of concepts rolled out by established chains over the last few years that were either closed or abandoned.

Both online and in the physical world, there are a lot of different places to pick up clothes or accessories that carry this name and the heritage that comes along with it.This brand offers something just a little different – the perfect blend of luxury, casual, and a hint of the outdoors.

If you like the abercrombie and fitch,please visit here: http://www.abercrombieshop.us,you can found your favorite products!

    The trouble, as he discovers, is that death follows Monza Murcatto around like a faithful companion – and one revenge scheme after another comes to define the word ‘overkill’.Riam Dean, 22, a native of the United Kingdom is suing apparel magnate Abercrombie and Fitch for discrimination, and, if the suit goes as planned, it appears she’ll win.
   Along the way, there are plenty of double-crosses and revelations that give us opportunities to re-evaluate our initial impressions of the characters, not least Monza’s deceased brother, and the action shifts from one city to another, all in the midst of the ongoing civil war in which Monza made her name as a mercenary.
  Shivers is the only character in Best Served Cold making a conscious effort to be a better person. A&F has never been a stranger to discrimination suits; one was recently settled in the US for discrimination during the hiring process in that they would allegedly only hire “young and beautiful” men and women to work in their stores.
   Riam sucked it up and commenced her stockroom duties, normally reserved for the “underlings”  of Abercrombie & Fitch “society” and received a telephone call at home a few days later, asking if she would continue on board with the company’s stockroom until their winter uniforms came in, which consisted of long-sleeved tops. She quit on the spot.

If you like the abercrombie and fitch,please visit here: http://www.abercrombieshop.us,you can found your favorite products!

    Citypages (Minneapolis) profiles West Publishing in an ever so uncritical chamber-of-commerce success story way in Westlaw Rises to Legal Publishing Fame by Selling Free Information. But the detail-rich article is recommended reading and does report some interesting information, some of it known, some estimated by legal information professionals:

From 1996 to 2005, the price for initial editions of Thomson's legal books went up about 4.5 percent each year—just slightly above the increase in inflation, and comparable to LexisNexis's 4.2 percent annual increase for similar materials.

That explains in part how in 2005, even after electronic media dominated the market and comprised 57 percent of West's revenues, the company still got 43 percent of its revenues from print.

But during the same period, Thomson's price for supplementation—updates to the initial books after changes in the law occurred—rose 11.5 percent each year, far higher than both the rate of inflation and Lexis's increase in prices for the same service.

West makes its money by selling free, public information—specifically, court documents—to lawyers. On this simple model, the company raked in $3.5 billion in revenue last year, placing it on a par, sales-wise, with retail giant Abercrombie and Fitch. But its operating profit margin really impresses: At a whopping 32.1 percent, West outpaces that of tech giants like Google (19.4 percent), Amazon (3.4 percent), and eBay (20.8 percent).

Isn't this long-standing pricing practice the reason why law librarians are looking first to West print title cancellations during our current financial circumstances, even when 50 percent discounts for some print title continuations are offered in Westlaw multi-year plan renewals?

The process is partially automated using West's Categorization and Recommendation Engine (CARE). CARE suggests key numbers for new cases, identifies cases affected by a new decision, and performs a host of other tasks that freelance attorneys performed for West before its implementation, "but an army of 800 attorney-editors analyzes the cases, writes the summaries, and approves many of the recommendations that CARE provides."

thatoncRiam Dean, who has a prosthetic left arm, explained to a judge e hired in London's flagship A&F location, she was told she did not pass the  "look policy" and supervisors "hid" her in the storeroom.A former London Abercrombie and Fitch salesperson is suing her one-time employee for discrimination, reports The Guardian.

" The 20-year-old law student then worked in the back room.Dean states she was originally told she could wear a cardigan to cover the area where the prosthetic attached to her natural arm, but was later told "she could not work on the sales floor unless she took off the cardigan, as she was breaking the company's 'look policy.'

She told the newspaper, "Abercrombie taught me that beauty lies in perfection, but I would tell them that beauty lies in diversity, for I would rather live with my imperfection than to exude such ugliness in their blatant display of eugenics in policies and practices."Dean is seeking about $41,000 in compensation.

Fictional background

The brand is named after Gilly Hicks, a fictional character Mike Jeffries centered around with an elaborate story to wrap together all the elements of the concept in an enticing manner. In the story, the fictional 'Hicks' English family immigrates to Sydney, Australia, in 1932. The daughter 'Gilly' opens an underwear shop within her family's 'British colonial-style manor house'. Gilly's granddaughter returned in modern day to reopen the original store.

The story works in explaining the '1932' fictional establishment found on GH goods, the Australian image, and store layout. To seem more believable, a supposed 'portrait' of the fictitious Gilly hangs in the stores. Critics argue that this makes the brand fake. There is nothing Australian about it at all, just like its creator Mike Jeffries who prides in American casual fashion. Nevertheless, the image is being used as a factor to attract customers and it is working.

Development

The idea for Gilly Hicks was inspired by the phrase "Down Under." Development phase began in 2005 with an assembled "strong and talented development team". By 2006 reports of a "Concept Five" from Abercrombie and Fitch began to circulate on the Internet. However A&F remained tight-lipped on their future brand. Furthermore A&F began to trademark the Gilly Hicks name and sea-related logos in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The August Trademarks Journal reported that the UK trade marking was under four 'classes' including footgear, headgear, intimate apparel and imitate apparel accessories, athletic wear and athletic wear accessories, swimwear and swimwear accessories, fashion accessories, bags, fragrances and jewelry. Furthermore, the names "Gilly Hicks" and "Gilly Hicks: Sydney" were filed for protection by A&F, including prototype logos encompassing conch shells, nautilus, scallops, and sand dollars (with the sea shell seen as the potential final logo). By October 2, 2007, select Hollister Co. stores began to promote GH through beauty products.

In the end of 2007, the brand's official homepage was launched as a promotional website, featuring a sepia toned promotional image of five men & one woman all in underwear. By December 26, 2007, the site was made restricted to underage visitors because of its only feature, a racy promotional film.

The construction wall enclosing the store at Mall of America in 2007.When it came to store locations, Tom Lennox from A&F stated that "having a 'portfolio' of strong brands strengthens Abercrombie's hand when negotiating with mall landlords for space." During the expansion of the upscale wing of Natick Collection, A&F's Concept Five was the first to be arranged an opening on the newly revamped level. Construction of the store soon followed. Employees for the future opening location were required under company policy not to divulge any information they had on the brand to the press or any other entity. They were not even allowed to view the merchandise until two weeks before opening. An employee who requested to remain anonymous mentioned before the opening that "[Abercrombie & Fitch has] done jeans and sweatshirts... The Abercrombie girl needs something for underneath."

Investment figures on Gilly Hicks stand at $7.5 million USD in 2006 and up to $15 million USD in 2007.

Opening and reception

On January 21, 2008, the first Gilly Hicks store opened (measuring 10,000 sq ft (930 m2)) in the upscale wing of Natick Collection with high anticipation. Abercrombie & Fitch analysts were exclusively invited to the event, where Mike Jeffries introduced the brand. He called GH "the Cheeky cousin of Abercrombie & Fitch". Afterwards, the analysts were encouraged to interact with the company's senior management team.

After the event, analysts came out very impressed with the brand's image and merchandise. Analyst Kimberly C. Greenberger enjoyed the "warm and inviting store entrance," the GH bras collection, and called Gilly Hicks's image "cute and sweetly sexy." She further said that Gilly Hicks is a more "wholesome" alternative to Victoria's Secret and that "mothers would not mind taking their 15 year-olds to Gilly Hicks to shop."

After the event, the store became the target of interest for many shoppers. Anticipation that was built before the opening was displayed as the store became full of customers. Center officials of Natick reported an extensive line of customers outside the GH doors that went well into the afternoon. Michael McNaughton, vice president of General Growth (in charge of the expansion of the Natick upscale level and who expressed interest in the GH store at Natick), said that "the opening certainly created a buzz that was so huge on the internet. People from California all the way to Australia were talking about this concept and contemplating coming out to see it."

A retail analyst named Chris Boring warns that Abercrombie & Fitch's brands are a "little more susceptible" should recession hit, because their specialties are premium-priced goods rather than necessities. "But a great brand can overcome that," he said. Boring later commented that the image is smart nevertheless, as Americans are intrigued by the Australian culture.

Overall, Gilly hicks has considerable prospects for the future. Victoria's Secret and Aerie sales has increased significantly.

Post-opening

Four days after the opening, the Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald published that GH coincidentally opened three months before the opening of Just Group's Peter Alexander (an underwear store). However, its CEO stated that GH will not be a competition, as both brands offer underwear to a completely different consumer group. The CEO was also curious on A&F's interpretation of Australia as a theme for an underwear store. Gillyhicks.com next became more informative with store locations and email subscriptions.

A total of 5 locations were open by the end of February. In months Gilly Hicks proved to very successful, gaining a great follow-up of customers from the Northeast and Midwest of the United States. The brand began expansion in the West coast on July 19, 2008, with the opening of an 11,000sqft store in Glendale, California's Americana at Brand.[4] Chairman and CEO of Caruso Affiliated and developer of Americana at Brand mentioned, "The Gilly Hicks brand has already created a tremendous buzz ...So we are excited to give West coast consumers the first opportunity to shop in this one-of-a-kind store with its unique ambience and trendy merchandise." In July 2008, a second promotional film was launched. A teenager was arrested for attepting to shoplift $100-worth of GH merchandise in the Natick store on December 29, 2008. Although 16 stores were planed to open in 2008, only 13 did.

Another teenager was arrested in 2 January 2009 for attempting the same previous crime. The brand launched its much waited-for online store on January 28, 2009.

In 1988, Limited Brands acquired the ailing company for $47 million after having success in popularizing Express and Victoria's Secret.[15] Headquarters was moved to Columbus, Ohio, and all inventory was cleared out.[8] The new president of Abercrombie and Fitch, Sally Frame-Kasaks, placed a strong emphasis on apparel.[14] Michael S. Jeffries, a clothing executive, took over as president in 1992.[16][17] He popularized the brand to a teen apparel merchandiser from an ailing sports brand. He believed that focusing the A&F brand towards the American teen market would be financially beneficial as that sector of retail economy was said to be growing at a record rate at the time.

The Chain store prototype (front) Side viewThe new Abercrombie & Fitch reopened shortly afterwards with a preppy outdoors theme reminiscent of the company's original roots. He desired to have Bruce Weber, known for his sexual beefcake photography, as the photographer for the brand, but could not do so until the company gained financial success. The apparel consisted of woven shirts, denim, miniskirts, cargo shorts, wool sweaters, polo shirts, and t-shirts. Its prices were unprecedentedly high in the teen apparel industry. Sales rose $85 million in 1992, $111 million in 1993, and to $165 million in 1994.[8][17] 49 stores were opened by 1994, 6 January 7, 1995, and 102 was aimed by the end of 1995.[8] In 1994, new records for merchandise margin rate and profitability were established by Abercrombie & Fitch for its parent, The Limited. To maintain popularity and to keep up with teen trends, Jeffries hired executives to keep up on popular teenage clothing, music, and entertainment.

By the mid-1990s, there were dozens of Abercrombie & Fitch stores in the United States. On September 26, 1996, The Limited, Inc. took Abercrombie & Fitch public on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "ANF" and with the per share offering as $16. In late 1990s, the company began to opt building stores only averaging between 8,000 to 20,000 square feet (700 to 2,000 m²) in high-volume retail centers around the country. It also launched the canoe store prototype of white facade and interior gray walls to accommodate the growth of its brand.

In 1997, Abercrombie & Fitch launched A&F Quarterly. The publication included photography, interview sand articles about sex, pop culture, and other teen interests. In 1998, the company introduced its first subsidiary, abercrombie. The concept was designed as the Abercrombie & Fitch for a younger clientele between the ages on 7-14. In 1999 began a 3-year-long class action lawsuit in which Abercrombie & Fitch was one of several American retailers involved for its sweatshops in Saipan. Revenue recorded for Abercrombie & Fitch at the end of fiscal 1998 was at $805.2 million USD. By 1998, Abercrombie & Fitch went became an independent company, and Mike Jeffries assumed the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.[16] As the brand regained its prominence, industry analysts began to speculate how long Abercrombie and Fitch would be able to retain its popularity.

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Analysts predicted that A&F would fall from popularity, but sales continued escalating after a provocative Christmas 1999 in which the A&F Quarterly issue of the season featured sexually explicit content that drew angry complaints. In 1999, the A&F also launched "A&F TV", which featured young people engaged in sports and leisure activities. A&F TV was originally developed to run on cable television and on monitors in Abercrombie & Fitch stores. It was soon removed. Revenue for fiscal 1999 was at $1.030 billion USD.

The overall approach of Abercrombie & Fitch, by the end of the decade, to its customers seemed to please male shoppers more than females, who shopped more frequently at competitor shops. Throughout the 1990s, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. enjoyed sales of over $400/ft2 ( $4300/m2). By December 1999, Abercrombie & Fitch operated a total of 212 stores nationwide.

1892 David Abercrombie establishes the company as Abercrombie Co. in New York City.

1900 Ezra Fitch joins as partner/co-founder.

1904 Re-christened as Abercrombie & Fitch Co..

1907 Abercrombie leaves. Fitch comes sole owner: The Fitch Years begin.

1909 The revolutionary A&F catalogue is released.

1910 Abercrombie & Fitch becomes first store to outfit both men and women in New York City.

1917 Moves into its historical Madison Avenue store.

Early 1920s A&F introduces Majong to the United States which gains high popularity. The company has accumulated an elite following.

1927 Charles Lindberg is outfitted by A&F for his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

1929 Ezra Fitch retires, and the company comes under succeeding leaders.

1939 Adopts the slogan The Greatest Sporting Goods Store in the World.

1950s Launches store openings nationwide. A&F president Guernsey remarks, "The Abercrombie & Fitch type does not care about the cost; he wants the finest quality," this becomes A&F's modern philosophy.

1976-78 After a financial decline, declares bankruptcy and closes doors. Oshman acquires the company, and fails to produce an uplifting image.

1988-1992 Limited Brands purchases A&F, and Mike Jeffries becomes president. Abercrombie & Fitch is re-established as a youthful upscale fashion retailer.

1996 Abercrombie & Fitch enters the NYSE and becomes an independent company.

1997 The A&F Quarterly publication is launched.

1998 The abercrombie brand is launched.

2000 The Hollister Co. brand is launched.

2001 Company operations move to Home Office in New Albany, Ohio.

2004 The RUEHL No.925 brand is launched.

2005-2007 First flagship store opens in New York City. Second flagship opens in Los Angeles. Thrid flagship opens in London, marks the beginning of international expansion.

2008 The Gilly Hicks brand is launched.

2009 The RUEHL No.925 brand is closed.



The history of Abercrombie & Fitch spans over three centuries: the 19th, 20th, and 21st century. Key figures which changed and influenced the course of the Abercrombie & Fitch's background exclusively include David T. Abercrombie (the founder), Ezra Fitch (the co-founder), Limited Brands and Michael Jeffries (current Chairman and CEO).

David Abercrombie founded the A&F in 1892 as a sporting goods store. Forming a partnership with Ezra Fitch, the company continued to economically expand into 20th century. After Abercrombie left, Fitch became sole owner and ushered in the "Fitch Years" of continued success. After his retirement, the company fell under succeding leaders until its financial fall and closed doors in 1977. Limited Brands purchased the ailing brand in 1988 and brought in Mike Jeffries who completely revolutionized the image of Abercrombie & Fitch in to an upscale youthful fashion retailer. Today, the company continues to experience economic expansion through the introduction of four growing concepts and cautious internation expansion into key markets.

Prominent figures who patronized the company in its excursion goods, early-20th century days.

Corporate officials

• The following are the top corporate officials of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
• Michael S. Jeffries - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jefferies has held this position since the 1990s. He has renovated the brand and oversees all aspects of the company.
• Diane Chang - Executive Vice President of Sourcing
• Leslee K. Herro - Executive Vice President of Planning and Allocation
• David S. Cupps - Senior Vice President, Sec. and General Counsel
• Thomas D. Lennox - Head of Corporate Communications
• Richard Clarke - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• Amy Zehr - Vice President of Stores

The company is headquartered at "Home Office". It has a European branch in Milan, Italy.

Abercrombie Kids (marketed as "abercrombie" or "abercrombie kids") is a American lifestyle brand from Abercrombie & Fitch Co. This brand is the kid's version of the popular Abercrombie & Fitch, with a "classic cool" theme targeted towards elementary/middle school individuals aged 7 through 14. Abercrombie kids offers apparel designed after the A&F "Casual Luxury" apparel but with smaller sizes and cheaper prices. Goods are sold in stores and at their website

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Quick, call in more shirtless male models! Desperate times may be calling for desperate measures at Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF). Today, the retailer reported that same-store sales fell 28 percent in May, worse than the dismal 24 percent drop that analysts had expected. This comes as a blow to the retailer, which, in a recent change-of-heart, began deeply discounting its offerings in May. Meanwhile, one of Abercrombie's biggest competitors, the more affordable and less sexy Aeropostale (ARO) posted a 19 percent surge in sales. So, Abercrombie can't use the excuse that teens aren't going to the mall. They are—they're just spending their allowance elsewhere.

The real test for both stores, analysts say, will be the pre-September back-to-school rush. If the economic environment does not improve, Aeropostale and other reasonably priced stores are likely to keep up the momentum and continue to steal market share from their once-cooler rival. But Abercrombie could still surprise us as its new discounting strategy unfolds. If it's enough to win back cost-conscious customers, the retailer might still have a dog or, um, a moose in the fight.

In a move that surprises no one, Abercrombie and Fitch announced that it will be closing Ruehl by the end of the year. Ruehl, which had pretax losses of $58 million last year, wasn't exactly helping A&F's bottom line, which itself wasn't looking all that rosy. Last month the company finally decided to cut prices after refusing to do so for months, even though competitors had already slashed away. And its stock prices had plunged. But the powers that be felt that marking down merch would make the brand seem cheap.

Adding to the company's woes are lawsuits filed by employees who claimed they were discriminated against, including a British woman with a prosthetic arm who was, she says, forced to work in the stockroom for not fitting in with the store's image. Well, at least there's that new children's store to keep the company afloat.

A women with a prosthetic limb who says she was made to work in the stockroom by trendy clothes retailer Abercrombie is bringing a disability discrimination claim, according to the BBC website.

Twenty-two year-old law student Riam Dean was born with a missing left forearm. She claims that Abercrombie & Fitch initially allowed her to wear a cardigan, but she was later moved from the shop floor and made to work in the stockroom when the company's "visual team" found that her appearance (on the Daily Mail website) did not adhere to its strict "look policy".

Miss Dean, who says she felt "diminished" and "humiliated", is seeking around £20,000 for disability discrimination. Abercrombie & Fitch is disputing her version of events.

    The first quarter was clearly a difficult one for us. With a challenging economic environment, the consumer continues to show a reluctance to spend on premium brands; a price consciousness dictating shopping habits unlike anything I have ever seen…

Oh, and once – sometimes twice a week – I’m now getting emails advertising their “Summer Clearance” sales in the stores and online from all the Abercrobmie brands.. How ironic. Not the least of which we’re just heading into Summer now – and they’re already doing Summer Clearance.

The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as for gender or party affiliation.

Abercrombie’s downfall with Ruehl (and the considerable sales drop at other Abercrombie brands of late) came from their arrogance to refuse to acknowledge the state of the economy and price their clothes accordingly – or at the least, provide sales or discounts or specials. For almost a year now Abercrombie’s President and CEO, Mike Jeffries has continually stated that Abercrombie (and affiliated concepts) are premium brands, discounting them or placing sales on their products – even temporarily – will damage the reputation of the brands and make it more difficult for the brands to return to their premium status. Then, suddenly, on May 15th, in their quarterly earnings report Jeffries made a comment which clearly demonstrates just how out of touch those people are in New Albany, Ohio with whats going in the retail environment today:

To the dismay of the Abercrombie & Fitch empire, teenagers whose parents have cut back on their allowances may be coming to a recessionary revelation: Paying $90 for torn jeans isn't that cool anymore.

While other retailers are responding to the downturn with red-lined price tags and tempting promotions, upscale Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) isn't budging on its price points. This scarf, for example, will still cost you $58. The company is fiercely protecting its image as a "premium" brand, and, as a result, it's getting snubbed big time by its once cultlike, ever-loyal fan base. Abercrombie & Fitch just posted a 34 percent drop in same-store sales from last year—the worst among retailers in March.