Abercrombie and Fitch

Description

Trading on its century-old name, Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) sells upscale men's, women's, and kids' casual clothes and accessories -- quite a change from when the company outfitted Ernest Hemingway and Teddy Roosevelt for safaris. A&F has 1,000-plus stores in North America (mostly in malls) and also sells via its catalog and online. It targets college students, and has come under fire for some of its ad campaigns, as well as for some of its short-run products. The company also runs a fast-growing chain of some 450 teen stores called Hollister Co., and a chain targeted at boys and girls ages seven to 14 called abercrombie. RUEHL, a Greenwich Village-inspired concept for the post-college set, debuted in 2004.

In early 2008 A&F launched its newest brand, Gilly Hicks, with the opening of a store in Natick, Massachusetts. The new just-for-women brand sells bras, underwear, and personal care products. Plans call for three dozen more Gilly Hicks stores by 2010. Overall, the company plans to add more than 100 new stores in 2008, including its first Hollister stores in the UK. An Abercrombie & Fitch store is currently under construction in Tokyo and is slated to open in 2009.

Abercrombie's e-commerce business is growing rapidly, propelled by international sales. In response to healthy international Internet sales, A&F opened about a half a dozen stores in Canada in 2005 and its first European store in London in March 2007. A&F has announced plans for further expansion in Europe, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.

A&F is searching for a new president and COO following the resignation of Robert Singer, after only 15 months with the company. Singer's abrupt departure was due to a disagreement over the company's international expansion strategy.

A&F's carefully selected college-age sales staff and photos of twenty-something models adorning the walls imbue its main stores with an upscale fraternity house feel. Its image as the clothier for a preppy social elite has, in some circles, earned its clientele the nickname "Aber-Snobbies."

Although the company has ceased publication of its magazine and toned down its product lines, A&F has not overtly stopped antagonizing conservatives.

Chairman and CEO Michael Jeffries owns about about 7% of the retailer's shares.

Sephora

Description

Shopping for cosmetics at Sephora is meant to be a hands-on sensual experience. Sephora's self-service approach to buying makeup arrived from France in 1998 with the opening of the first Sephora USA stores in New York and Miami. Now with about 185 stores throughout North America, Sephora stocks more than 250 brands of prestige products, including its own collections of cosmetics, skin care, and bath and body products, all of which customers are encouraged to sample. Sephora also sells via catalog and online at Sephora.com. Beyond North America, Sephora has about 570 stores in some 10 European countries as well as China and the Middle East. Founded in France in 1969, Sephora was acquired by LVMH in 1997.

Fast-growing Sephora added more than 40 stores in North America in 2007. The makeup chain also operates more than 45 Sephora ministores, which sell makeup, skincare, fragrance, and other products sold in Sephora's stand-alone locations, inside J. C. Penney department stores, via a partnership launched in 2006. Sephora also fills online orders for beauty products made by Penney's customers.

Private label items, such as Sephora's own line of bath and body products, generate about 10% of Sephora's sales.