UVillage: Abercrombie out, H&M in
Now we know the answer to the hot question of last August (Which location would H&M take over in UVillage? Answer: Abercrombie, despite my misinformed guesstimations about Anthropologie last winter.) But another question remains: just how could Abercrombie and Fitch fail to thrive in the UDistrict generally, and in UVillage more specifically? What other location could have provided more of a target demographic? And is this a sign of trouble for the chain and its slightly-creepy founder?
Also, that location must have been huge if H&M is moving into it. I confess to never really having set foot within the old store, but perhaps some of my fellow authors (Dylan, I’m looking at you) partook of what Salon once called a look of “youth, sex and casual superiority.”
"slightly creepy" is more than a slight understatement w/r/t the A&F founder.
Look, it was eight years ago, and that shirt was on clearance.
Abercrombie is an assault on my senses. It’s so loud in there and I can’t stand the smell.
They do make some comfy pjs though.
Dylan: that sounds like an excuse for a remaindered Bill Bradley campaign shirt.
No, it was a remaindered Lamar Alexander shirt, in Farm Bill Blue. You have a problem with that?
The A&F (blech!) was a single level like the rest of U-Village (minus Crate & Barrel), but from the construction going on, it looks like H&M will be two levels, so probably at least twice the square footage. How big was the A&F, anyway?
I think the answer is simple why AE won’t survive.
It’s a RECESSION and although the target audience is college kids, in actuality, that audience is one of the most financially burdened groups.
AE’s real target is high school teeny boppers living off mom/pops credit card and working yuppies. Who else can afford those prices. Besides, why would a college kid want to burn their "beer" fund on those clothes when your just gonna end up passed out in the middle of night on some dirty pizza sauce stained couch at your buddies pad.
Now every college kid can get excited by H&M with their hip designer styles and low prices.
In Germany, middle age men think AE are their demographic..NO KIDDING!