Latest news with #retailcomeback
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Symbol of 2000s cool roars back after sexism scandal nearly sank it... and fashion brand's stock prices soars
Just three years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch looked like a dying relic of early-2000s mall culture. Customers had fled. The stock was tanking. And the brand was under fire after a brutal Netflix documentary exposed its exclusionary hiring practices — favoring mostly white, thin employees to peddle a hyper-sexualized image to teens and college kids. Now, Abercrombie is staging one of the most surprising comebacks in retail. Its stock has surged over 400 percent in five years — outperforming even some of tech's biggest names. On Wednesday alone, shares jumped 32 percent after the company posted blowout earnings and forecast strong sales for the rest of 2025. The company credited its revival to trend-savvy updates like printed jeans, dresses, and vintage-inspired denim that are pulling in a new generation of shoppers. Hollister, its younger-skewing sub-brand, in particular is grabbing new customers. It saw same-store sales surge 23 percent year-over-year — with demand booming for fleece, skirts, and retro tees. CEO Fran Horowitz said stores are seeing a surge in customers and pledged to ramp up marketing during the crucial summer season. The transformation began when Fran Horowitz took over as CEO in 2017, steering the brand away from its Mike Jeffries-era playbook of shirtless models and exclusivity. Under her watch, Abercrombie ditched its toxic image, embraced inclusivity, and made fashion-forward tweaks like vintage denim, printed dresses, and gender-neutral basics. The turnaround is more than skin deep. In its latest quarter, Abercrombie posted $1 billion in sales — a 22 percent jump — and crushed Wall Street expectations on earnings. Compare that to 2014, when Jeffries resigned after 11 straight quarters of shrinking sales, and the brand was hit with a $40 million discrimination settlement. A 2022 Netflix doc, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, cataloged it all — the racist t-shirts, the 'look policy,' the refusal to carry XL sizes, and Jeffries' infamous line: 'Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.' Horowitz has been behind Abercrombie & Fitch's strongest profits in its 133-year history. In the early 1990s and 2000s, it ran ad campaigns chock full of sex appeal primarily featuring attractive and in-shape white models. In some of the ads, the models were practically wearing nothing at all. Their ads also had incredible star power, featuring Taylor Swift, Karlie Kloss and Jennifer Lawrence early on in their careers. In the early 1990s and 2000s, Abercrombie & Fitch ran ad campaigns chock full of sex appeal primarily featuring attractive and in-shape white models In some of the ads, such as this one promoting boxers, the models wore practically nothing at all. Jennifer Lawrence remembered her 2006 shoot in an interview: 'They wanted natural pictures, so they made us play football on the beach. The other models played football in a pretty way, but not me. My face was bright red, and I was sweaty with flaring nostrils' A model is pictured in a recent Abercrombie & Fitch summer promotion on the company website Mike Jeffries, former chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, was known for making brash statements some found offensive Today, Abercrombie's website features models of all races and sizes. Its favorability among millennials hit a record high in 2024, according to Morning Consult, and Gen Z now sees it as 'hip' and 'stylish,' per QuestBrand data. That's a far cry from 2002, when the company proudly sold a line of T-shirts with Asian stereotypes and caricatures. One of the offending shirts featured the slogan 'Wong Brothers Laundry Service — Two Wongs Can Make It White' with two caricatures of Chinese men. The brand's controversies weren't limited to the clothes themselves. Their stores, just as much as their ads, were committed to the idea that sex sells. That meant rejecting people applying as in-store models who didn't fit a certain 'look,' which allegedly included minorities. Subsequently, nine people of color filed a class-action suit against Abercrombie & Fitch for alleged discrimination against African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. It was settled for $40 million in November 2004.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MFI Retail Chain Back After Collapsing Nearly 20 Years Ago
Nearly 20 years after collapsing into administration a beloved retail chain is making a surprise comeback. MFI is set to make its grand return to the United Kingdom after falling into administration in 2008 following the global financial crisis. The retail business was originally founded in 1964 as Mullard Furniture Industries by Noel Lister and Donald Searle. At one point the retail giant had more than 200 stores across the UK and delivered more than 50 million items a year before the introduction of Ikea to the area. Once one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the country, MFI was "quietly obtained" by Victorian Plumbing in May 2024 before its reinvention of the brand to come in late 2026, according to a report from This is Money. "I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20billion UK homewares market," founder and chief executive Mark Radcliffe said in a statement. "Our dedicated and ambitious team, decades of e-commerce knowledge and best-in-class proprietary software, together with the recognizable MFI brand, will help to deliver our strategic ambition over the medium-term." The MFI brand was initially purchased by Victoria Plum after it fell into administration and was relaunched as an online only retailer November 2011, but lasted less than four years before it ceased operation again in July 2015. "Having invested significantly in preparing the business for future growth last year, I am pleased with the group's strategic progress in the first half," Radcliffe added in a forecast for the new venture. "We are fully operational in our new purpose built warehouse and have continued to improve our customer proposition, while expanding product range into other rooms within the home and taking significant market share gains in a subdued trading backdrop."
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MFI Retail Chain Back After Collapsing Nearly 20 Years Ago
Nearly 20 years after collapsing into administration a beloved retail chain is making a surprise comeback. MFI is set to make its grand return to the United Kingdom after falling into administration in 2008 following the global financial crisis. The retail business was originally founded in 1964 as Mullard Furniture Industries by Noel Lister and Donald Searle. At one point the retail giant had more than 200 stores across the UK and delivered more than 50 million items a year before the introduction of Ikea to the area. Once one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the country, MFI was "quietly obtained" by Victorian Plumbing in May 2024 before its reinvention of the brand to come in late 2026, according to a report from This is Money. "I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20billion UK homewares market," founder and chief executive Mark Radcliffe said in a statement. "Our dedicated and ambitious team, decades of e-commerce knowledge and best-in-class proprietary software, together with the recognizable MFI brand, will help to deliver our strategic ambition over the medium-term." The MFI brand was initially purchased by Victoria Plum after it fell into administration and was relaunched as an online only retailer November 2011, but lasted less than four years before it ceased operation again in July 2015. "Having invested significantly in preparing the business for future growth last year, I am pleased with the group's strategic progress in the first half," Radcliffe added in a forecast for the new venture. "We are fully operational in our new purpose built warehouse and have continued to improve our customer proposition, while expanding product range into other rooms within the home and taking significant market share gains in a subdued trading backdrop."
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Wife of retail baron Sir Philip Green in lucrative property deal
As TopShop is poised for a High Street comeback, the wife of retail baron Sir Philip Green has made a lucrative property investment near the chain's former flagship store on London's Oxford Circus. Monaco-based Tina Green, 75, owns 20 flats in a complex near Marble Arch via her Guernsey-based vehicle P17 Investments, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Lady Green owned Topshop's parent company Arcadia, which was run by her husband. She bought the leasehold apartments at Garrett Mansions, off Edgware Road, in August 2020, three months before Arcadia was put into administration. Stores were closed during the second coronavirus lockdown in November 2020 with the loss of 13,000 jobs, and the brand names sold to online competitors. Apartments at Garrett Mansions, which has a pool, spa and gym, sell for £1.4 million. It would make Lady Green's investment worth as much as £28 million. Topshop returned to physical retail for the first time in four years with a one-day, pop-up event yesterday in Shoreditch, East London, ahead of a rumoured High Street comeback.
