Abercrombie & Fitch

I decided to do my next blog on one of the name brands I was never able to have until recently because of its extremely outrageous price. Abercrombie and Fitch carries casual clothing and various accessories including several colognes and perfumes, that smell extremely good just for the record. This company includes over 300 stores including children stores named "abercrombie" without the Fitch added at the end.

The brand was first launched in 1892 by David T. Abercrombie, which explains the year printed on all of the clothing. The thing I found the most interesting of all my research was that this extremely fashionable line of clothing was originally an hunting gear, fishing gear and outdoor gear supplier. This first shop was a "small waterfront shop in downtown New York." David Abercrombie was a very successful man, born and raised in Maryland. He was a designer of tents, rucksacks and other camping equipment therefore it was his passion for the great outdoors that inspired him to start this business. It was mostly professional hunters, fishers, explorers, etc that were customers in these stores. Ezra Fitch, a very successful lawyer in Kingston, New York had become to rely on David's company and therefore became one of the most frequent customers. Because of his extremely loyalty to the business he convinced David to let him become a partner with him in 1900. In 1904 the shop moved to 314 Broadway and the name changed to Abercrombie and Fitch. Both men had two completely different views of the future of the company. David wasted to continue selling outdoor gear and keep the business small the way it was, meanwhile, Ezra wanted to expand the store and change the retail to help please more of a general public. After several very heated arguments, David decided to resign from the company in 1907. This however did not affect the companies expansion. Fitch continued to make changes to the company and transformed it into a sporting goods shop and the goods were no longer kept in glass cases but were out in the open for customers to touch and try out. The salesmen were all experienced outdoors men and in 1913 the store moved to Fifth Avenue and started selling men and woman sports clothing. By 1917, Abercrombie and Fitch was a 12 story building located on the corner of Madison Avenue and 45th Street and was known as one of the biggest sporting goods store in the world. There was many different things you could do there including, fishing, shooting, golfing, camping and there was ever dog and cat kennels you could visit. It also organized a lot of successful exploration expeditions such as the Theodore Roosevelt trip to Africa and the Amazon. In 1928 Ezra Fitch decided he wanted to enjoy the remainder of his years enjoying the outdoors for himself therefore he retired from the business. In the late 60's the store when bankrupt but managed to get back on its feet when taken over by The Limited Inc in 1988 and in 1992 was transformed into a casual apparel business. In 1996, The Limited Inc got 84% of everything the company made but finally became independent in 1998.

Abercrombie and Fitch is now a very successful company loved by teens and adults everywhere. I personally love the product, but unfortunately the closest retailer is at Sommerset mall in the states and I don't travel to the states often therefore I don't have much. 



http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_bid_abercrombie---am---fitch-am-cid_perfume-am-lid_a__brand_history.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-fitch-history-2011-4#