• The New York Times, Wednesday, November 1, 2006 12 PM

As retailers open chains that serve ever-smaller slices of the population, they are using storefronts cloaked in wood and brick to discourage entry by shoppers who do not belong to the desired demographic.

Abercrombie & Fitch--with four different chains aimed at distinct markets--has been leading the trend away from window displays. It began experimenting with an opaque exterior with Hollister, a clothing store geared toward high-school students. The outside evokes a California surf shack whose residents have shuttered the windows and hidden the front door to keep out the riffraff. Abercrombie's new chain for college students, Ruehl No. 925, has a brick facade that mimics the front of a townhouse.

Retailers say the mysterious storefronts--and the members-only, clubby environment they generate--create a powerful identity that eventually reaches their desired customers, one way or another. But architects note that opaque storefronts could prove disastrous for retailers that must appeal to multiple generations.

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