Why turn young people on the American fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch

  Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries took a century - old shop Sportswear stilted , she squirts teen hormones and increases the company in a chain of several billion dollars rejuvenated. He also has clients personally unattractive, unpopular and overweight shops Jack Jeffries during the tenure as CEO discouraged , the company has faced numerous complaints of discrimination.

The newest spot Abercrombie came earlier this month when a federal judge ruled that the company illegally a Muslim employee of 19 years fired for wearing the Islamic headscarf , or hijab. Umme - Hani Khan began as a worker for the Hollister, Abercrombie subsidiary ' s, in October 2009 , in the area of ​​San Francisco. Khan spent most of her time unpacking boxes and folding clothes in the reserve to view the occasional raids on the sales floor merchandise. But before you start work , Khan had to agree with the infamous political show '' Jack '', a series of care and fashion to strict guidelines in order to achieve the look of the staff correspond '' '' all- American society , the treasures of the spirit of the brand .

Although Khan was wearing a headscarf to her interview was her employment on the understanding that they do not wear it to work conditioned . She did it anyway. His superiors in the store a compromise : Khan could wear the headscarf , as it matched company colors. This arrangement continued without incident for four months , until a district manager visited the store one day and said Khan. When she refused to remove the religious headscarf , Khan was fired.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took its case in March 2010. After over a year of unsuccessful efforts to reach an agreement , the EEOC lawsuit against Abercrombie Khan filed in June 2011. The plaintiffs alleged discrimination Khan Abercrombie violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the employer to accommodate the religious belief or practice of an employee if it would not be an undue hardship requires . '''' Jack argues scarf Khan undermine sound - in-store marketing strategy and the brand '''' adversely affected by a shift away look of the policy. In other words, the store Retail $ 2830000000 could not afford undue hardship to allow Khan to wear a hijab.

District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the argument Abercrombie , Abercrombie say '' not proffer any evidence of four months shows a decrease in sales in the Hillsdale store , customer complaints or confusion or damage to the trademark in connection with Khan hijab . " They popped another argument Abercrombie -

Check their policies is constitutionally protected free speech . Yes , you read that right : Jack supported Khan and his colleagues were '' living '' commercials, and therefore their appearance protected commercial speech . The judge called it a new kind of polite argument '''' - delete without legal authority .

Khan's case is only the latest example of Abercrombie 's CEO and demote employees and potential customers in the brand's All-American . In 2005, the company has agreed to pay $ 40 million in a class action for African- Americans , Asian -Americans , Latinos and women Abercrombie is not conducive or not hired in the first place because of race or gender. '' This agreement promises this company , whose special feature not result in a completely white image and workforce , '' Thomas A. Saenz, transform , Vice President, Legal Defense Fund and the Mexican American Legal Education , said after the settlement was announced in 2005 . His optimism was misplaced delete , show how Khan and subsequent cases.

The animosity that is outside the conventional definition of the company's attractiveness unlikely that Jeffries to change is at the top. In a 2006 interview that young people clearly Jeffries unattractive, overweight or otherwise undesirable in America should shop elsewhere .

'' In every school there are the cool kids and loved , and then there are no children - so cool ,'' he said.

'' Frankly, we go after the cool kids . We go after the attractive all-American kid with a good attitude and many friends . Many people do not belong [ in our clothes ] , and they can not belong . Are we exclusionary ? Absolutely . Companies struggling trying all target are: young, old, fat, thin . But then you have completely vanilla. You must not alienate , but you do not excite anyone either . ''

Jeffries apologized Posted by Business Insider dug May an article about the denial of Abercrombie stock XXL - XL -size clothing and women and celebrities have kept the pressure. A petition Jeffries to'' stop young people that they are not beautiful '' and make clothes for young people of all sizes gathered more than 80,000 signatures . Is the marketing strategy , Abercrombie $ 16 per share IPO in 1996 and a recognized brand worldwide grew began to alienate customers ?

Since more than a third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese in 2010, this means that only 70 percent of the potential market adolescence can fit into Abercrombie & Fitch, retail analyst wrote Barbara Farfan . Crunching data from Pew Research and market research by Dove , the reasons Farfan , that only 41 percent of the potential market of adolescence that fit into Abercrombie clothing definition Jeffries ' of fit '' All American '', and only 9 percent of this group keeps customers ' ' looks good '' Abercrombie actively .

Maybe that's why the sales are around . '' With every public statement , every hiring decision , see all the rules book. . . each test and news commentary about each of these things , '' Farfan argues , '' the identity of the brand Abercrombie & Fitch is a little brighter and the size of the target market Abercrombie & Fitch is a bit smaller, '' she writes.

Jeffries contract will expire in February. It is time that society finds a new board and restyles its brand.