Weblog Consulting Register Login Subscribe to Free Influx Emails Join our Facebook Group Branding Street Cred Technology Lifestyle Style Entertainment Interviews Art InfluxTV Map Widgets RSS — All Subjects RSS — More Feeds

Search

Advanced Search

Contact Privacy Policy

Both Abercrombie and Fitch and American Eagle are expanding their portfolios beyond their core teen focused concepts. It's a recognition that they want to keep their consumers as they age and takes the companies into direct competition with the likes of The Gap's Banana Republic and Armani's AX.

American Eagle is in the planning stage of a concept to be launched in 2006 and they are being fairly tight lipped on the details.

Abercrombie is further ahead and has been testing a concept called Ruehl no 925

The idea behind Ruehl is to be the place college kids go for clothes after they leave college. It's the store they graduate to when they get their first job in the big city. Abercrombie has toned down its sexiness for this concept in favor of a less overt and more seductive image.

The clothing is a similar sports casual line to A&F, but the emphasis is on premium quality with prices being about 25% higher than Abercrombie.

They also took some key learning from Hollister by making the store more experiential. The NYC store has to be discovered, it has no sign outside, just an address, it looks like a brownstone in Greenwich Village. Inside it looks like a vintage apartment with exposed ceilings and dim lighting.

Like Hollister, Ruehl also sells items beyond the expected including; vintage books, art, newspapers, magazines ad CDs.

While many retailers would have just gone with a merchandise driven idea and the college educated first job target, A&F went a stage further by first thinking of the concept as a movie, something that had a story to tell. To begin with they created a back story for the brand.

"A German immigrant moved to the United States circa 1850 and opened a fine leather goods shop that stayed in his family for generations. His great grandson, 100 years later, decided to enter the apparel business, focusing on denim and inspired by screen idol James Dean."

Ruehl is a great example of a branded concept that understands that the consumer is looking for more than just merchandise at a price, there are plenty of discount stores that do that. To compete in mid-level fashion, you need a story and a vision. By thinking about the concept as a movie with a plot, Ruehl has created a differentiated concept that's emotionally rich for the consumer and builds a strong foundation that can act as a blueprint for the brand as it moves forward.

Although Abercrombie has been much criticized in the media, as a business case study they are a poster-child for the concept of embracing risk; from the overt sexuality of their A&F advertising, through to the dedication and investment made to create unique store experiences like Hollister and now Ruehl.

The secret of success for this new concept depends on Ruel's ability to keep their pricing competitive, so it doesn't have to compete with true designer lines and making sure the merchandise is of sufficient quality and differentiated enough from Abercrombie.