Abercrombie & Fitch To Close In Mall, Express Staying Open

UPDATED: 

A statement released by the retailer:

We put the customer at the center of everything we do, and we are constantly evaluating our stores to ensure we are meeting our customers’ needs, which sometimes involves relocating or closing a store as a result.

As a company, we believe stores matter – we opened more than 34 new store experiences for our customers in Q3 ’19 alone – and we continue to focus on optimizing our store fleet, as well as providing an engaging online experience, where we know many of our customers begin their shopping journey.

Original Story: 

One retailer at the Oxford Valley Mall will close this weekend, while another was spared.

Youth fashion retailer Abercrombie and Fitch will close its store in the Middletown mall this Saturday. The company did not immediately release the reason behind the closure or how many employees will be impacted.

The company has more than 650 stores in the U.S. between its Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch brands.

The Hollister store in the mall will remain open.

Several Abercrombie and Fitch stores across the country have closed in recent weeks.

Financial analysis website The Motley Fool published an article last week citing Abercrombie and Fitch’s CFO stating at a recent conference that the brand was not afraid to close stores that do not fit its current needs.

“We’re willing to walk away from any mall at this point. For us, it’s about getting the right store in the right location at the right size,” CFO Scott Lipesky said.

While Abercrombie and Fitch is closing, Oxford Valley Mall fashion retailer Express will keep their store open in the shopping complex. However, the company’s Neshaminy Mall location in Bensalem will shutter.

Express said in a statement that their planned closure of 31 retail locations nationwide is part of a plan to reduce costs.

The troubles facing strip center and mall stores across the nation have been termed the “retail apocalypse.” The upheaval comes as online shopping booms.

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