Joe Friday

Abercrombie's 2009 Strategy Yields Favorable Results

I think that one should be careful in giving Abercrombie too much credit.
Their strategy of holding pricing has resulted in significant same store sales declines last quarter (25%).
Even more ominous is their inventory build. In the fourth quarter last year they did 1.228M in sales and ended the quarter with 333M in inventory (24 days of sales).
In the fourth quarter just ended they did 997M in sales and ended the q with 373M in inventory (34 days).
As their CEO likes to portray them, they are an "aspirational" brand. I would avoid any company with that approach in this market environment.