Abercrombie & Fitch, Columbiana Mall: 14 January 2012 10 comments
(The pictures aren't that great -- I was shooting ISO 3200, when I could have gotten by with 1600 or even 800).
The State says that this Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbiana Mall shuttered on 14 January 2012 as part of a bad-economy driven process that has already closed the King Street store in Charleston, and will close the Greenville store this weekend (28 January 2012). [The Myrtle Beach store in Coastal Grand Mall will remain open for now].
A&F is not a store I've ever entered, though I was pretty sure they sell clothes, and a glance at their web site confirms that. The only association I have with the name is an old joke/shaggy-dog-story that I heard parts of in the 70s that ended with
You can call me X, you can call me Y, but you doesn't has to call me Abercrombie!
Apparently the mall will make good this loss when a store called Love Culture opens this summer. This is another clothing store, but apparently for women only. The current tagline on their site
On the hunt for cute clothes!
and the two somewhat campy, retro graphics suggest a fairly young demo.
10 Responses to 'Abercrombie & Fitch, Columbiana Mall: 14 January 2012'
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Casey G
27 Jan 12 at 12:44 am
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To give you an example of their demographic, "The Situation" wears their clothes. There was a very short running gag on Conan where Andy would wear their clothes on air unless A&F paid HIM $1 million dollars not to. He came out dressed in a very tight t-shirt A&F, etc. Just like everything else, funnier if you could see the clip, which I am sure is on youtube.
jonathan
27 Jan 12 at 9:10 am
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I get so excited when I see all the new comments to the left, then realize what they really are.
jonathan
27 Jan 12 at 9:14 am
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Yep, today was the worst it's been in a long while -- took me 15 minutes to nuke all the spam comments!
ted
27 Jan 12 at 10:08 am
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A&F is not what it started out as. Originally it was similar to LL Bean selling items for camping and safaris. Teddy Roosevelt and Hemingway both bought safari gear from them and there is an episode of MASH where Hawkeye buys a portable bathtub from them. I am not sure when or why they changed their focus.
Tom
27 Jan 12 at 11:05 am
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Tom,
I'm not being sarcastic when I say this. Sometimes it is hard to tell on the internet, but that is a very interesting fact!I guess they transitioned from providing tools to outfitters to outfitting tools.
jonathan
27 Jan 12 at 11:42 am
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Good one!
tonkatoy
27 Jan 12 at 12:58 pm
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I recall when I was in high school, various friends of mine would be wearing Abercrombie clothes but I was turned off by their propensity to play loud music when I'd be walking the mall but I am not one to pay attention to 'brand name' clothes...
I've read several articles indicating that Abercrombie & Fitch was in trouble and I'd read pages of people bashing them for various reasons and most of what those people see are coming to fruition..
Andrew
27 Jan 12 at 1:25 pm
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The Original A&F was an outdoor supply company, but filed for bankruptcy sometime in the 60s or 70s. The GAP (I'm pretty sure that's the right company) purchased the name in the 90s and opened Clothing stores under the name. The only connection between the original and the modern stores is the name.
Larry
27 Jan 12 at 4:57 pm
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It was The Limited (not The Gap) that purchased the brand.
Tim
30 Jan 12 at 10:40 am
The Coastal Grand Mall story will be the only one remaining in SC for now anyways.