Fran Horowitz, the chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., received a warm reception from the crowd at the NRF Big Show on Monday, but the company got a cold response from Wall Street after bringing its 2025 forecast down slightly.
A&F is now calling for at least 6 percent annual sales growth versus the previous forecast of 6 to 7 percent growth. The operating margin is now seen at 13 percent versus the previous forecast of 13 percent to 13.5 percent. Net income per diluted share is seen in the $10.30 to $10.40 range versus the previous forecast of $10.20 to $10.50.
A&F’s numbers continue to be strong relative to what other retailers are expected to report for 2025. But they weren’t enough for Wall Street, which dragged the stock down 17.7 percent to $102.78 on Monday.
Just the night before, Horowitz was the toast of the industry. She received NRF’s Visionary Award during the annual NRF Foundation dinner raising funds for scholarships and coinciding with NRF’s Big Show. She was honored for being a brand builder and for leading the successful multiyear turnaround of A&F.
On Monday morning, Horowitz appeared on stage at the NRF discussing her management style, what works for her, and keys to success in retailing, during her conversation with Matt Shay, NRF’s president and CEO.
She also gave a glimmer of what’s ahead for the company, indicating: “Eighty percent of our business is done in North America, about 20 percent is global [which] was more significant years ago. Things have changed in the business and we shared very publicly about our opportunity globally to grow our business. We’ve set up offices in London and Shanghai, and we’re excited about both our EMEA and our APAC opportunities.”
Horowitz also emphasized building new partnerships and collaborations. “We are predominantly an owned and operated business today, and the opportunity to bring partners forward with us, we’re excited about. We launched two partnerships just this past year, one with Marcolin for eyewear, and the other with Haddad brands licensing our kids business. The operating model that we built, as fantastic as it is, has to evolve.
“I’ve been in this industry for 40 years. I’ve had an incredible opportunity to start in the department store retailing, and then up through specialty retailing. From a cultural perspective, one of the biggest learnings for me is just being very approachable, and being a very authentic leader,” Horowitz said.
“Way back at the beginning of my career, I was at Bloomingdale’s; several mentors there really helped me to understand that at whatever level that you’re at, be approachable. Make sure you get to know your associates at every level. Make sure they understand that good ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.”
Horowitz also advised “stay close to the customer. We talk a lot in the industry about being close to a customer, but you really have to do it. My team does it better than most.”
Horowitz said one of her biggest changes at A&F was helping the team understand that you can’t impose your ideas of what fashions the customer would want. “They actually have to tell you what they want.” She said when A&F was emphasizing jeans with button flies, “Customers told us: We love your denim. We love your jeans. But can we just please have a zipper. It sounds silly, but it was just like, OK, let’s listen to what they’re telling us. We put the zippers in. And honestly, we’ve had record sales of denim ever since.”
Often, through different stages of her career, the feedback from team members was that she was “so normal. What exactly were people trying to tell me? I think they appreciated me listening to them whether it was a personal story, whether it’s something happened in their life, the simplest little things. And it gets people to really, I’ll use this expression, to follow you, because they know you sincerely care.
“When I first got to Abercrombie, the team and the associates, they were so smart, they were so curious, they were so optimistic, but they didn’t have a lot of accountability, and they definitely did not have a lot of autonomy. I really took it to heart to hook myself up with this brain power. These teams know what this customer really is interested in. That’s been a huge, huge part of the success. They had that foundation, but they just didn’t have the opportunity to express it.”
Horowitz also said when she first arrived at A&F, the Abercrombie and Hollister brands were incredibly similar. “Once we did some research, we really separated the brands and gave Hollister its platform for the teen market, and really aged up Abercrombie. That’s when the team got even stronger, because then they really could understand what their consumer was looking for.”
During her NRF appearance, Horowitz didn’t address the forecast, but she did issue a statement that morning, saying: “Our team remained on offense across product, voice, and experience, resulting in record quarter-to-date net sales through fiscal December, aligned with our expectations. Importantly, we delivered balanced growth across our regions, brands, and channels. Hollister Brands had a strong holiday and is positioned to deliver another year of mid-teens net sales growth for fiscal 2025. At Abercrombie Brands, we saw a strong customer response over the holidays, and we now expect to grow net sales in the low single digits for the fourth quarter on top of a record result last year.”
Fran Horowitz
Sari P PHOTOGRAPHY
Going forward: “We remain on track for another year of significant progress, consistently delivering on our goals with expected record net sales and growth of at least 6 percent. We also expect top-tier profitability again this year, with leading operating margins among scaled peers, while addressing tariffs and increasing our investments for long-term success. We’ve put our capital to work across marketing, digital and stores to end 2025 with a stronger foundation and deliver significant returns for investors through financial performance and share repurchases.”
Words of Wisdom from Fran Horowitz at the NRF:
- “Retail is a journey. There’s no finish line.”
- “Change is just something you have to experience every single day. It sounds funny to say, but you have to plan for it.”
- “I love that no two days are the same.”
- “You have to be agile, you have to be open to listening. You have to accept great ideas coming from anywhere and anyone.”
- “The macro environment out there has been extraordinary. I tell the team all the time you got to block it out. You have to focus and control what you can control.”
- “I sign off all my emails to the team with ‘always forward.’ Tomorrow is the next day. Let’s just keep going. We’ve learned some lessons. You can certainly hindsight them, but always forward, keep moving ahead.”
