Abercrombie & Fitch parent company to close up to 60 stores this year

Ohio-based retailer Abercrombie & Fitch announced it will close up to 60 stores this year.

The company confirmed it would close up to 60 of its Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores in 2018. Closing store locations have not been identified yet.

The teen retailer eliminated 150 positions at the corporate level in January 2017. The clothing retail chain is headquartered in New Albany, just outside of Columbus. The company has struggled in recent years, closing  stores last year.

Chief Operating Officer Joanne Crevoiserat said on the most recent earnings call that closing stores is part of the company’s ongoing strategy. In 2017, Hollister grew to $2 billion in sales, while Abercrombie returned to positive comparable sales for the fourth quarter and record digital sales across all brands.

“We are pleased by our performance, delivering positive comparable sales for the fourth quarter across brands, channels and geographies and more than doubling our operating income. Our focus on staying close to our customer, executing to our playbook and maintaining our disciplined approach to expense management delivered a strong performance on both the top and bottom line,” he said.

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There is one store location at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, and another location at Kenwood Towne Center in Cincinnati. A location at the Dayton Mall also closed several years ago.

Abercrombie also owns the Hollister brand, another teen clothing retailer, which has locations at the Dayton Mall, Mall at Fairfield Commons, Liberty Center, Tri-County Mall and Kenwood Towne Center.

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