• Brandchannel, Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:53 AM

How much longer can Abercrombie & Fitch pretend the recession isn't happening? asks Deborah Dunham. It has seen 21 months of declining sales in stores that have been open more than a year, topped off by a 19% drop in December.

Dunham says that A&F was able to get away with its "aspirational" prices -- men's jeans at $98; hooded sweatshirt for $80 -- before the economic turndown. But it's not only about the high prices; teens have changed, too. Today's youth are all about individuality, she says, creating their own styles by mixing and matching from different stores.

"Unless they do something quickly to recapture the what's-hot-today-may-not-be-so-hot-tomorrow teen market...," concludes Dunham, "that once must-have embroidered moose logo will become 'Dude, that's so yesterday.'"

Read the whole story at Brandchannel »