FRAN HOROWITZ NAMED PRESIDENT AT ABERCROMBIE & FITCH

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has announced that Fran Horowitz, president of its Hollister brand, has been promoted to president and chief merchandising officer, effective immediately. In this newly created position, Horowitz will have responsibility for all of the company’s brands, reporting to Arthur C. Martinez, executive chairman. Christos Angelides, who served as Abercrombie & Fitch brand president since October 2014, has departed.

As president and chief merchandising officer, Horowitz will have responsibility for all customer-facing activities across the company’s brands. This includes merchandising, design, planning, inventory management, marketing and stores. At the appropriate time, the company expects to name new presidents for each of its brands, who will report to Horowitz.

“Abercrombie & Fitch Co. continues to make encouraging progress executing on its strategy to provide compelling, customer-focused shopping experiences based on clearly defined brand positions,” said Martinez. “We are pleased with our performance for the quarter to date and are on track to deliver continued sequential improvement in comparable sales and achieve the profit expectations we had coming into the quarter.”

“Fran’s merchandising skills and her exceptional leadership, which has inspired associates to focus all their efforts on an intense understanding and commitment to our customers, has ignited a turnaround at our Hollister brand,” continued Martinez. “This promotion provides Fran the opportunity to play an even greater role in our future success as we focus on building shareholder value by positioning each of our brands for sustainable growth.”