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Teenage love for Hollister brand drove sales for Abercrombie & Fitch

A revamp effort that included everything from new store merchandise to clothing presentation and lighting drove better in-store sales.

March 2, 2016

Teenage consumer love for the Hollister fashion brand drove sales upward for Abercrombie & Fitch Co, breaking a three-year streak of declining in-store sales.

The boost in same-store sales during the 2015 holiday shopping season illustrates the retailer's focus on product revamp and improving the in-store customer experience is paying off, according to a Reuters report. The news is making shareholders happy as stock share price went up nearly 10 percent.

The 1-percent boost was a surprise to industry watchers as analysts were expecting a dip of 0.10 percent, according to Reuters.

"They (results) are a sign that the brand continues to make progress in what remains a challenging market during a particularly difficult period of trading," Neil Saunders, chief executive of research firm Conlumino, told Reuters.

As part of the product revamp the teen clothing seller cut back on logo-focused brands and boosted new denim and Bohemian style tops and skirts. Store remodeling included freshening up the music, the lighting and even changing up the clothing presentation in the store.

According to Reuters, net income rose 30.1 percent to hit $57.7 million in Q4 while net sales fell 0.6 percent, to hit $1.11 billion.