May 14, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Abercrombie and Fitch stores conquered malls in the late '90s and early '00s with gorgeous models, pulsing dance beats and a fierce scent. What people don't know is the story of the company that was founded in 1892 in New York City.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Abercrombie and Fitch
stores conquered males in the late nineteen nineties and early
two thousands with gorgeous models, pulsing dance beats, and a
fierce scent. But over time, revelations of exclusionary marketing and
discriminatory hiring practices began to engulf the popular brand in scandal.
(00:34):
What most people don't know is that the company was
founded in eighteen ninety two in New York City as
an outfitter for elite outdoorsman. Here to tell the whole
story is Ashley Lebinski. Ashley is the former co host
of Discovery Channel's Master of Arms, the former curator in
charge of the Cody Firearm Museum, and she's the co
(00:57):
founder of the University of Wyoming of Laws Firearms Research Center.
Here's Ashley.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
The name Abercrombie and Fitch, especially today, doesn't always invoke
the most positive image. If you've been into the store,
you know that it's known for being darkly lit and
heavily perfumed and not very inclusive. I always call it
the trendy teenage clothing company that gotten to a lot
(01:30):
of trouble for not necessarily welcoming a lot of different
people into their store. And I can say that from
personal experience because I work for Hollister and Abercrombie.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
But in the.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Recent years they have decided to do a rebrand, and
within that rebrand, the clothing line is a little bit
more grown up.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They have real normal sizes that you can wear.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But what's so fascinating to me about this whole thing
is that there have been documentaries about kind of the
drama behind the company, but what they often ignore is
the fact that for almost a century, Abercrombie and Fitch
was considered one of the best sporting goods stores in
the world, and they actually had international reach back in
(02:14):
the early nineteen hundreds, and they catered to presidents like
Theodore Roosevelt and John F.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Kennedy.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
They actually outfitted Charles Lindbergh, and they also provided clothing
for Amelia Earhart.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
The company was founded.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
On June fourth, eighteen ninety two, by David Abercrombie, and
the kind of concept behind the store was to bring
a little bit of wilderness into the urban environment of
New York City. So it started in New York City,
which used to house a lot of different firearms related products,
outdoor products, despite the fact that it was in the
(02:48):
city and it was an outdoor retailer that focused in camping, hunting,
and fishing gear. In nineteen oh four, the other company
namesake that we know, Ezra Fitch, became a partner in
the company and that's when kind of the iconic brand
was born. Unfortunately, though, the relationship was kind of a
rocky one, and so Abercrombie ended up walking away from
(03:10):
the company in nineteen oh seven and left Azra Fitch
as the sole owner, and they call those the Fitch years.
The brand wasn't limited to one store though in New
York City Fitch. One of Fitch's pet projects was the
fact that he wanted the company to have broader appeal,
so he had his employees create and think about this,
this is early nineteen hundreds. He had his employees create
(03:32):
a four hundred and fifty plus page catalog in nineteen
oh nine to distribute around the world, and it wasn't
the greatest financial decision the company could make because of
the expense to produce it, but they ended up making
over fifty thousand copies of this catalog and their client
base wasn't just limited to your average sportsman, so Abercrombie
(03:54):
and Fitch today isn't always associated with inclusivity. However, they
saw back then the value in marketing to sportswomen. In
nineteen ten, Abercrombie and Fitch became one of the first
companies to sell their products to both men and women,
and these investments actually paid off, because in nineteen thirteen
they were considered quote, the greatest sporting goods store in
(04:16):
the world. In nineteen seventeen, Abercrombie and Fitch expanded to
a twelve story building at Madison Avenue and East forty
fifth Street in New York City, and this store was
quite the production. So they owned the twelve story building
and they actually utilized the whole building, and I don't
know that seems kind of hard to believe back then.
(04:36):
And then, to make it even more ridiculous, in the
basement of the store, there was a shooting range. The
mezzanines sold gear for skiing, archery, diving, and lawn games.
The second through the fifth floors had gear for various
terrains and temperatures. The sixth floor was a picture gallery
and they had a sporting arm focused bookstore, a watch
(04:58):
repair shop, a golf school, and the golf school even
came with a golf pro. The seventh floor was home
to their gun room and also randomly kennels for animals.
The eighth floor was for fishing, camping, and boating equipment,
as well as a desk that had fly and bait
casting instructors who gave their lessons at wait for it,
(05:21):
the rooftop pool of the building and their fishing section
alone had over forty eight thousand flies and over eighteen
thousand fishing lores, And if you think about it, the
store by today's standards is massive. Let alone the fact
that it was around in nineteen seventeen now Abercrombie and
(05:42):
Fitch would ultimately be labeled by Forbes later in its
life as a quote hodgepodge of unrelated items end quote.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And that was kind of towards the end of its
sporting brand.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But the foundation for that assessment certainly flourished far earlier.
So you've got all of these sporting goods items, you've
got shooting ranges, you've got pools, you've got golf pros.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
But it was also the first store to.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Import the Chinese game of Majong, and Fitch even went
to China. So one of their customers was, like, I
found out this game, I think it's really cool, and
so Fitch went to China to acquire the game and
to get an English translation for it, and they would
ultimately sell over twelve thousand sets. In nineteen twenty eight,
(06:28):
Azer Fitch retires, so this is kind of the first
ending of the company as.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We know it.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But then he sells it to his brother in law,
James Cobb, and so he decides that he wants to
continue to expand the company, and they end up acquiring
multiple sporting arms related companies. They acquire a store that
dealt in high end European sporting arms and phishing tackle,
and they even acquired Griffin and Howe, which is incredibly
(06:57):
well known even today. And before the Great Depression, Abercrombie
and Fitch was boasting six point three million dollars in
sales with half a million dollars in profit. Of course,
the Great Depression, though, hit everybody hard, and Abercrombie and
Fitch was no different to that.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
But then they also.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Managed to continue to expand and over the following decades
into the nineteen sixties, Ultimately, stores are popping up all
over the country, from New York to California and everywhere
in between. I think there is even one in Beverly Hill.
So you get cities that you do not associate with
sporting arms, and they have these giant stores. And Abercrombie
(07:39):
and Fitch does something really smart too, kind of later
in its history, and they secure a deal with the
Rock Hudson film Man's Favorite Sport and it serves as
a venue for the movies. So this company has been
around for a really long time. They've got this sporting reputation.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
They're kind of.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hemorrhaging money a little bit, even though it seems like
they're expanding, and so they're trying to kind of keep
the brand relevant as we start to come into a
more modern America in.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
The post World War II period.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But ultimately the company is not going to survive as
the sporting goods store of yesteryear, and as it's starting
to struggle financially, a Texas based company known as Ashman's
Sporting Goods buys it and tries to kind of keep
that momentum going. But by the late nineteen eighties, they're
acquired by a company called Limited Brands. Limited Brands had
(08:31):
a lot of different kind of companies under its belt,
including Limited and also Limited To, which was a clothing store,
a kid's clothing store when I was a kid, that
turned into justice. And at this point, you know, in
the late nineteen eighties, the company kind of bids a
dow to its wilderness days and they no longer set
their sites down range, but rather at a new target,
(08:52):
which is the mainstream clothing market.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I mentioned that most of the.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Recent documentaries pick up the storyline from here, although they
may in thirty seconds or less kind of the original
intent of the company. But obviously today's drama tends to
fuel a lot of viewership on things like Netflix and Hulu,
and so they focus more on the former CEO who
(09:17):
made some rather colorful comments about who he does not
want to own the brand, and fortunately for them, they
are starting to pull themselves out of it. But it's
as a historian, it's fascinating and it's also disappointing that
almost a century of history and legacy was ultimately washed
away by acid washed genes, graphic te's and the most potent.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Cologne on the planet, and a terrific job on the editing,
storytelling and production by our own Greg Hangler, and a
terrific job is always by Ashley Lebinski. The story of
Abercrombie and Fitch. Here on our American Stories.
And we continue with our American stories. Abercrombie and Fitch
stores conquered males in the late nineteen nineties and early
two thousands with gorgeous models, pulsing dance beats, and a
fierce scent. But over time, revelations of exclusionary marketing and
discriminatory hiring practices began to engulf the popular brand in scandal.
(00:34):
What most people don't know is that the company was
founded in eighteen ninety two in New York City as
an outfitter for elite outdoorsman. Here to tell the whole
story is Ashley Lebinski. Ashley is the former co host
of Discovery Channel's Master of Arms, the former curator in
charge of the Cody Firearm Museum, and she's the co
(00:57):
founder of the University of Wyoming of Laws Firearms Research Center.
Here's Ashley.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
The name Abercrombie and Fitch, especially today, doesn't always invoke
the most positive image. If you've been into the store,
you know that it's known for being darkly lit and
heavily perfumed and not very inclusive. I always call it
the trendy teenage clothing company that gotten to a lot
(01:30):
of trouble for not necessarily welcoming a lot of different
people into their store. And I can say that from
personal experience because I work for Hollister and Abercrombie.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
But in the.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Recent years they have decided to do a rebrand, and
within that rebrand, the clothing line is a little bit
more grown up.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They have real normal sizes that you can wear.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But what's so fascinating to me about this whole thing
is that there have been documentaries about kind of the
drama behind the company, but what they often ignore is
the fact that for almost a century, Abercrombie and Fitch
was considered one of the best sporting goods stores in
the world, and they actually had international reach back in
(02:14):
the early nineteen hundreds, and they catered to presidents like
Theodore Roosevelt and John F.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Kennedy.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
They actually outfitted Charles Lindbergh, and they also provided clothing
for Amelia Earhart.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
The company was founded.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
On June fourth, eighteen ninety two, by David Abercrombie, and
the kind of concept behind the store was to bring
a little bit of wilderness into the urban environment of
New York City. So it started in New York City,
which used to house a lot of different firearms related products,
outdoor products, despite the fact that it was in the
(02:48):
city and it was an outdoor retailer that focused in camping, hunting,
and fishing gear. In nineteen oh four, the other company
namesake that we know, Ezra Fitch, became a partner in
the company and that's when kind of the iconic brand
was born. Unfortunately, though, the relationship was kind of a
rocky one, and so Abercrombie ended up walking away from
(03:10):
the company in nineteen oh seven and left Azra Fitch
as the sole owner, and they call those the Fitch years.
The brand wasn't limited to one store though in New
York City Fitch. One of Fitch's pet projects was the
fact that he wanted the company to have broader appeal,
so he had his employees create and think about this,
this is early nineteen hundreds. He had his employees create
(03:32):
a four hundred and fifty plus page catalog in nineteen
oh nine to distribute around the world, and it wasn't
the greatest financial decision the company could make because of
the expense to produce it, but they ended up making
over fifty thousand copies of this catalog and their client
base wasn't just limited to your average sportsman, so Abercrombie
(03:54):
and Fitch today isn't always associated with inclusivity. However, they
saw back then the value in marketing to sportswomen. In
nineteen ten, Abercrombie and Fitch became one of the first
companies to sell their products to both men and women,
and these investments actually paid off, because in nineteen thirteen
they were considered quote, the greatest sporting goods store in
(04:16):
the world. In nineteen seventeen, Abercrombie and Fitch expanded to
a twelve story building at Madison Avenue and East forty
fifth Street in New York City, and this store was
quite the production. So they owned the twelve story building
and they actually utilized the whole building, and I don't
know that seems kind of hard to believe back then.
(04:36):
And then, to make it even more ridiculous, in the
basement of the store, there was a shooting range. The
mezzanines sold gear for skiing, archery, diving, and lawn games.
The second through the fifth floors had gear for various
terrains and temperatures. The sixth floor was a picture gallery
and they had a sporting arm focused bookstore, a watch
(04:58):
repair shop, a golf school, and the golf school even
came with a golf pro. The seventh floor was home
to their gun room and also randomly kennels for animals.
The eighth floor was for fishing, camping, and boating equipment,
as well as a desk that had fly and bait
casting instructors who gave their lessons at wait for it,
(05:21):
the rooftop pool of the building and their fishing section
alone had over forty eight thousand flies and over eighteen
thousand fishing lores, And if you think about it, the
store by today's standards is massive. Let alone the fact
that it was around in nineteen seventeen now Abercrombie and
(05:42):
Fitch would ultimately be labeled by Forbes later in its
life as a quote hodgepodge of unrelated items end quote.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
And that was kind of towards the end of its
sporting brand.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But the foundation for that assessment certainly flourished far earlier.
So you've got all of these sporting goods items, you've
got shooting ranges, you've got pools, you've got golf pros.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
But it was also the first store to.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Import the Chinese game of Majong, and Fitch even went
to China. So one of their customers was, like, I
found out this game, I think it's really cool, and
so Fitch went to China to acquire the game and
to get an English translation for it, and they would
ultimately sell over twelve thousand sets. In nineteen twenty eight,
(06:28):
Azer Fitch retires, so this is kind of the first
ending of the company as.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
We know it.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But then he sells it to his brother in law,
James Cobb, and so he decides that he wants to
continue to expand the company, and they end up acquiring
multiple sporting arms related companies. They acquire a store that
dealt in high end European sporting arms and phishing tackle,
and they even acquired Griffin and Howe, which is incredibly
(06:57):
well known even today. And before the Great Depression, Abercrombie
and Fitch was boasting six point three million dollars in
sales with half a million dollars in profit. Of course,
the Great Depression, though, hit everybody hard, and Abercrombie and
Fitch was no different to that.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
But then they also.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Managed to continue to expand and over the following decades
into the nineteen sixties, Ultimately, stores are popping up all
over the country, from New York to California and everywhere
in between. I think there is even one in Beverly Hill.
So you get cities that you do not associate with
sporting arms, and they have these giant stores. And Abercrombie
(07:39):
and Fitch does something really smart too, kind of later
in its history, and they secure a deal with the
Rock Hudson film Man's Favorite Sport and it serves as
a venue for the movies. So this company has been
around for a really long time. They've got this sporting reputation.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
They're kind of.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hemorrhaging money a little bit, even though it seems like
they're expanding, and so they're trying to kind of keep
the brand relevant as we start to come into a
more modern America in.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
The post World War II period.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But ultimately the company is not going to survive as
the sporting goods store of yesteryear, and as it's starting
to struggle financially, a Texas based company known as Ashman's
Sporting Goods buys it and tries to kind of keep
that momentum going. But by the late nineteen eighties, they're
acquired by a company called Limited Brands. Limited Brands had
(08:31):
a lot of different kind of companies under its belt,
including Limited and also Limited To, which was a clothing store,
a kid's clothing store when I was a kid, that
turned into justice. And at this point, you know, in
the late nineteen eighties, the company kind of bids a
dow to its wilderness days and they no longer set
their sites down range, but rather at a new target,
(08:52):
which is the mainstream clothing market.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I mentioned that most of the.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Recent documentaries pick up the storyline from here, although they
may in thirty seconds or less kind of the original
intent of the company. But obviously today's drama tends to
fuel a lot of viewership on things like Netflix and Hulu,
and so they focus more on the former CEO who
(09:17):
made some rather colorful comments about who he does not
want to own the brand, and fortunately for them, they
are starting to pull themselves out of it. But it's
as a historian, it's fascinating and it's also disappointing that
almost a century of history and legacy was ultimately washed
away by acid washed genes, graphic te's and the most potent.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Cologne on the planet, and a terrific job on the editing,
storytelling and production by our own Greg Hangler, and a
terrific job is always by Ashley Lebinski. The story of
Abercrombie and Fitch. Here on our American Stories.
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