Abercrombie and fitch case study analysis

Case Studies: Using concepts from the chapter readings students will provide their own in depth analysis of each assigned case and answer all questions at the end of each case study. Each analysis should include an in-text citation and end of paper reference (from the chapter with a page number) that relates to the case study. In addition, an Assignment Cover Sheet is required with each analysis (see Appendix).

Case studies are listed in the course syllabus

Case 2: Gender: The Classic Look of Discrimination: Abercrombie & Fitch’s Struggle to Manage Diversity

– Answer questions 1-6

Text book name is Canas, K. A. & Sondak, H. Opportunities and Challenges of Workplace Diversity (3rd Edition). Pearson.

Please answer the 4 discussion questions below. Please number your answers individually. APA 2 page is required. In text citation of the textbook name above must be included in all questions.

Case Study: The Classic Look of Discrimination: Abercrombie & Fitch’s Struggle to Manage Diversity

Who represents an “all-American” standard? For national clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, a company that meticulously branded itself as having the “A&F Look”—“cool,” “classic,” and “all-American”—the answer was simple: a young, athletic, beautiful, white male. 1 As Abercrombie & Fitch developed their brand, they worked diligently and systematically to create their image by hiring employees and models who reflected this specific look. What began as merely a marketing strategy developed into a pattern of human resource management that ultimately led to two discrimination lawsuits in which Abercrombie & Fitch was charged with creating an “exclusively white company image used to discriminate against non-whites.” 2 The purpose of this case study is to describe Abercrombie & Fitch’s history, development, and current status and to consider how a successful century-old organization ended up facing class-action discrimination lawsuits, ultimately paying over $40 million to several thousand African American, Latino, Asian American, and female plaintiffs. 3

The History of Abercrombie & Fitch

David T. Abercrombie, a passionate outdoorsman and entrepreneur, founded Abercrombie & Co. in 1892 with the intent of providing high-end outdoor products to an elite clientele. A short time later, in 1900, Abercrombie entered into a partnership with attorney, visionary, and Abercrombie & Co. customer Ezra Fitch, and in 1904 Abercrombie & Co. was relaunched as Abercrombie & Fitch Co. From 1900 to the late 1960s, Abercrombie & Fitch sold outdoor equipment, furnishings, and clothing to wealthy, high-profile customers such as Dwight Eisenhower, Ernest Hemingway, John F. Kennedy, and Teddy Roosevelt. It was during this time that the brand first became associated with the “Classic American Image” as the company catered to an affluent, largely white male customer base. 4 A quote from Otis L. Guernsey, who was president during the 1940s, provides a sense of Abercrombie & Fitch’s brand elitism: “The Abercrombie & Fitch type does not care about the cost, he wants the finest quality.” 5

In the 1960s, Abercrombie & Fitch entered a period of declining profits due largely to market changes, which eventually forced the company into bankruptcy and led to the subsequent purchase of the Abercrombie & Fitch name, trademark, and mailing list by Oshman’s Sporting Goods in 1978 for $1.5 million. 6 Oshman’s attempted to rebuild the company by opening a chain of 26 stores across the country that largely sold sport and fitness equipment designed specifically for the brand. The sporting goods company ultimately failed, however, to turn Abercrombie & Fitch into a successful sporting goods store. 7

In 1988, The Limited, Inc., purchased Abercrombie & Fitch from Oshman’s for $46 million in cash and repositioned the company as a clothing retailer, focusing primarily on men’s clothing. In 1992, Michael Jeffries was appointed CEO, and Abercrombie & Fitch entered into a phase of intense expansion, increasing from 35 to 67 stores in just three years and ultimately to over 1,100 today in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. 8 In 1996, Abercrombie & Fitch entered the New York Stock Exchange,9 and in 1998 was spun off from The Limited, Inc. 10 Sales during this time increased from $85 million in 1992 to $165 million in 1994 and have currently reached approximately $3.5 billion in 2009. 11 It was during this period of growth that Jeffries began targeting youth with the goal of branding his product as emblematic of a culture and lifestyle within the context of Abercrombie & Fitch’s “Classic American Image,” or, what he described as “the embodiment of ‘American cool.’ ” 12

The “A&F Look”

In 2002, when on a conference call with analysts, Jeffries described Abercrombie & Fitch’s target customer as an “18-to-22-year-old college guy who has a good body and is aspirational.” He continued, “If I exclude people—absolutely. Delighted to do so.”13 In Jeffries’ quest to market the Abercrombie & Fitch brand, he seemed to suggest that the company was willing to ignore anyone who did not fit or aspire to be part of the young, white, good-looking, athletic demographic. 14 Hiring a certain kind of employee became part of this marketing effort.

At Abercrombie & Fitch, a strong emphasis is placed on hiring the best-looking people who fit the retailer’s particular brand image. Abercrombie & Fitch employees, specifically the sales people, are hired as brand representatives. According to a former assistant store manager, “If someone came in with a pretty face, we were told to approach them and ask them if they wanted a job. They thought if we had the best-looking college kids working in our store, everyone will want to shop there.” 15 Abercrombie & Fitch critics argue that one only needs to walk into an Abercrombie & Fitch store and look at the salespeople as well as the quasi-risqué posters to see the pervasiveness of the “A&F Look.” 16

The company selects models for its catalogs and overall marketing campaign from among its store personnel. In terms of the selection process, each store is required to send pictures of the brand representatives to corporate headquarters from which models are chosen. A former brand representative at the Staten Island store said, “Store managers would set up photo shoots that used brand reps as models.” 17 Store managers also routinely conduct grading sessions of store employees, assigning grades based upon looks. 18 Former employee Kristen Carmichael claimed that in 2008 she was pulled from the sales floor and placed in the back room to fold clothes after managers gave her face a zero rating. She also claimed that a manager told her “that she wasn’t attractive enough to work on the floor.”