Abercrombie & Fitch moves beyond the mall and onto Fifth Avenue with the opening Thursday of its first flagship.
The store is tall, dark and mysterious, larger than any other in the chain, and potentially the brand's top-volume unit. Sources said the 36,000-square-foot location, including 27,000 square feet and four levels of selling space, should generate around $40 million in annual sales, given its high-profile, high-traffic location on the northwest corner of 56th Street, a former Fendi site. That's roughly twice the volume of A&F's only other Manhattan site, the 16,800-square-foot store in the South Street Seaport.
Michael Jeffries, chairman and chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch, said the intent with the flagship was "to create an experience.…It's emotional."
The vast majority of A&F's stores are situated in better malls around the country, though at one time, the company operated a store in Trump Tower, which was eventually closed, leaving the store at the Seaport its sole Manhattan unit.
During a tour on Monday, Jeffries explained that Abercrombie & Fitch has "maxed out" on opening stores in malls that maintain the "aspirational" character of the brand, and that urban flagships represent the new venue to sustain growth. The unit here, at 720 Fifth Avenue, is considered the prototype, with some elements of the interior expected to also filter into mall-based stores as new ones open or others get renovated.
Though the store is certainly dramatic and costly, officials don't consider it a monument to the brand. "We will make money," at the location, and relatively quickly, Jeffries said. He emphasized that all Abercrombie & Fitch stores, except for a "handful," are money-makers.
He also said the company plans to open additional flagships in Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2006, which will be followed by the company's first overseas store in London, in 2007.
Jeffries described the Fifth Avenue store as "a prototype for international stores in the future," though London is the only city announced. Still, while the urban flagship strategy gathers steam, Jeffries was clear to state the company will remain mostly driven by the success of its mall business.
