Abercrombie & Fitch to open flagship Dublin outlet

THE popular US clothing outlet Abercrombie & Fitch is to open a European flagship shop in Dublin this year.

It is expected to open by December and will occupy three levels of the old Habitat building on College Green.

Abercrombie & Fitch has proven extremely popular with Irish shoppers over the last few years and the opening of the Dublin store is expected to be a major boost for the Irish retail sector.

A spokesperson for Clarendon Properties, which looks after the leasing of the building, said negotiations with Abercrombie had been ongoing for two years.

Yesterday, the company posted a bigger-than-expected fourth quarter profit as discounts brought in more traffic and the teen retailer saw domestic sales rise in the holiday quarter.

The company has been shutting under-performing stores in the US and focusing on international expansion, a key growth driver for the retailer.

While international sales rose 61% during the fourth quarter, the company saw a 16% rise in domestic sales. Fourth-quarter net income was $92.6 million (€68.9m) up from $47.5m a year ago.

Chief executive and chairman of the board of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries said: “We are very pleased with our fourth quarter results. We finished the year with strong domestic sales growth and continued to see very strong results in Europe.

He said 2010 was a year in which the company exceeded its objectives in terms of sales, operating income and earnings per share.

“We did this while continuing to invest for the future and to build our organisation to capitalise on the huge opportunities we see ahead. There are challenges ahead, but we feel very confident in the momentum of our business and the global power of our iconic brands,” said Mr Jeffries.

As well as Dublin, the company expects to open international Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores in Paris, Madrid, Dusseldorf, Brussels and Singapore. The German location will also include a children’s store.

It is also planning to open 30-40 international mall-based Hollister stores, primarily in the latter part of the year. The company expects a minimal number of domestic store openings in 2011. It continues to expect to close about 50 domestic stores in the next 12 months, mainly at the end of 2011 through natural lease expirations.