David Abercrombie actually established the business on June 4, 1892 in Manhattan, New York. It began as a high class sporting goods store. Ezra Fitch happened to be one of the store’s most frequent customers, and he was also a wealthy attorney. In 1900 Fitch bought major shares in the Abercrombie company and became a co-owner. Fitch’s name was actually not added until 1904, giving it its official name of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.. Continue reading to discover the Abercrombie company history.
Their business partnership ended in 1907 after many arguments over its direction. Fitch wanted to appeal more to the general public, while Abercrombie wanted to remain strictly a sporting goods store. It resulted in Abercrombie selling his shares to Fitch. Fitch collected new partners, and the business went on.
Fitch and his expansions nearly bankrupt the company, however, they also paid off, and they really paid off historically. In 1909, Abercrombie & Fitch mailed out their first catalog, and it cost them one dollar each to publish them, which at that time was a great deal of money. The catalog was free to customers in the store. They were the first store in New York to supply clothing to women, and men. In 1913 they moved the store, and began including sportswear, and had already adopted the slogan “The Greatest Sporting Goods Store in the World.” By 1917, they were located in a building on Madison Avenue, and occupied all twelve stories. Another landmark for them, they were the first United States store to import Mahjong. Fitch imported the game after a female customer inquired about it, translated the Chinese into English, and A&F was all the rage.
A&F supplied Charles Lindberg with his outfit in 1927 when he made his historic flight over the Atlantic. Fitch retired in 1928, selling his shares to Cobb, who was his brother-in-law. Cobb bought several other companies.
A&F was affected by the depression just as everyone else was, and did not really begin to recover until 1938. They did alright during the sixties, but the seventies were not a good time for them. They had to file bankruptcy in 1977. They were bought by a retail chain named Oshman’s in 1978, and they opened new stores in California and Texas. They continued to open stores.
By 1988, Limited had purchased A&F, but it was still in trouble. Michael Jeffries became the president and decided to direct the market toward teen clothing. The teen market seemed to be the best way for the business to go financially, and it was a success. What would Abercrombie & Fitch have thought about the LFO Song, Summer Girls? Fitch probably would have appreciated the free advertising.
Today, the company is still going, and going as strong as can be expected, with the economy in the state it is in. Teenagers rate them the sixth most popular brand. You have run quite the race A&F, keep on running. Now we all know the real story about Abercrombie company history.
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