Turn down the music, tone down the cologne, pull up the blinds, cover up that midriff — these are just a few of the ideas Abercrombie & Fitch seems to be channeling from concerned parents and test-driving in a mock-up of its Hollister brand stores at its corporate campus, Bloomberg news reports.
Shrinking profits and weak sales have prompted a shakeup at the teen clothing retailer. Faced with a 77% drop in 2013 sales, CEO Mike Jeffries is decentralizing decision-making to two new presidents and a new chief operating officer, and the ideas in the pipeline could drastically alter the store’s image for the better, if you’re looking at it from the perspective of a concerned parent, or for the worst, if you’re a stick-thin night owl.
Bloomberg reports that in addition to experimenting with brighter stores, lighter colognes and fewer nude pictures, the company may stock clothing racks with larger sized shirts. It would mark a noticeable departure from a no-plus-size policy that Jeffries once made explicit, much to the company’s regret. If the ideas test well with teenagers, they could roll out to 843 branches nationwide.
