Abercrombie & Fitch opens in Westfield London, will relocate EMEA head office

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 22, 2019

Abercrombie & Fitch Co opened its new signature brand store, including abercrombie kids, in Westfield London on Friday. The new location is at the largest shopping destination in Europe that draws in 30 million visitors a year. 

Both the main A&F and the kids brands feature its updated prototype format and the debut means that all of A&F Co’s brands are now represented at Westfield London, the only single space in London that can claim that. A new Hollister store, which includes Gilly Hicks, opened there in July.

The company also said that as it continues to grow globally and invest in its people and real estate in London, its Savile Row property, currently occupied by abercrombie kids, “will be enhanced and repurposed as the global company’s EMEA Home Office, allowing more room for its expanded team in the region”. 

The existing store will be “relocated to a carveout location in the nearby A&F Burlington Gardens store” with the moves starting early next year and set to complete by the summer.

The changes reflect its “commitment to global growth as we continue to adapt our playbooks for European markets,” said CEO Fran Horowitz. “With our growing team in the region, we’re getting closer to our local consumer, and both the Burlington Gardens and Westfield London locations will be an opportunity to bring relevant products and experiences to both our adult and kids customers.”

The Westfield store marks the 13th new location for its brands in EMEA this year. It follows hot on the heels of October’s opening of the first mall-based A&F store in France at Westfield's Parly 2 mall, and its first mall-based standalone abercrombie kids store in Europe at Plaza Norte 2 in Madrid that opened earlier this month.

The company said it sees “significant opportunity for global growth” and earlier this year, it appointed two Group Vice-Presidents over the EMEA and APAC regions to help further this aim.