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Abercrombie & Fitch is a clothing retail company. The company operates out of its own stores and an online business, selling specific brands – Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie Kids, Hollister and Gilly Hicks. The first two brands target younger generations; Hollister provides casual wear; and Gilly Hicks specialises in women’s underwear. Each of the four brands is considered to be ‘all American’, with nods to certain geographical regions. For example, the Abercrombie & Fitch brand is tailored to teen and young adults with an eastern American coast slant on style and Gilly Hicks is marketed as being ‘inspired’ by Australia.
The company currently has stores in the United States of America, the UK, Canada, Japan, Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Singapore.
As might be expected of a clothing brand, image is a key concern at Abercrombie and Fitch. Marketing tends to have an ‘in your face’ attitude, and adverts are intended to be provocative and sexy. The company also employs assistants in store, known as ‘models’, to wear the clothes and promote the brand to customers. One of the employees in the company’s recruitment video stresses that the stores are representations of the people who work in them – employees are expected to be ambassadors for the brand.
This image is not just apparent in the impression given by staff and marketing, but also in the whole layout of the stores. In keeping with the themes of each brand, the design of stores and even the music in each is meant to appeal to the clientele walking through the doors.
Abercrombie and Fitch is in the process of an aggressive expansion policy. Building on its strong American base, the company plans to have stores all across the globe by 2016.
The company is particularly strong in ecommerce, having developed its key brands alongside specific websites designated to each. Abercrombie & Fitch has taken advantage of the growth in online shopping: in 2010, around 10% of the company’s total net sales were via online services.
Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t disclose the salaries for their graduate positions (initially managers-in-training and then assistant managers). However, from comparing some figures in the American market, a starting salary of up to £22,000 might be expected, depending upon experience.
The holiday allowance appears to be 15 days, plus the number of public holidays given in the country in which an applicant is based (so, if there are seven public holidays in that country then the total number of days off is 22). The benefits package includes:
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