Criticism
- Presence of A&F on Savile Row
- The form of arrivial, with the provocative construction wall for example, raised eyebrows among the conservative business owners of the street renowned for its formal respectable image. The Savile Row Bespoke was formed with permission of the City of Westminster to join Row tailors in protecting Savile Rows image. Mark Henderson, CEO of Gieves & Hawkes was made Chairman and he commented that “Exploiting the Savile Row name to attract high-paying retailers and businesses, at the cost of this world-esteemed industry, is shortsighted." Another Row tailor, Thomas Mahon, negatively commented on the situation to The Times: “If the Bespoke businesses were driven out by crappy retail stores selling poor-quality clothes...then Savile Row’s name would be irreparably damaged.”
- UK Price Points
- After the company opened its flagship in London / Savile Row, the brand was criticized in the UK because the merchandise that was offered to the UK customers cost double the prices (or even a direct $/£ swap) found in the United States and that goods offered in the UK are from past US seasons at full UK (£) prices without past season - clearance discount.The merchandise is labeled with much higher price in the UK than in American stores. Many products are priced with a direct $-to-£ swap that amounts to unreasonable price extortion. Jeans costing $89.50 in American stores are £90 ($155.17) in the UK. Many UK customers have expressed feeling of being "ripped-off". On the matter, the company said that it is following a trend by other brands to maintain profits in the UK (dubbed "Treasure Island"). Nevertheless, A&F has a price raise overwhelmingly higher than these other brands. An Abercrombie & Fitch website dedicated to the UK was also launched to prevent UK customers from accessing the American priced merchandise. View the UK privacy policies here.
Read more about this topic: 7 Burlington Gardens, Today: A Flagship Store
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“To be just, that is to say, to justify its existence, criticism should be partial, passionate and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive point of view, but a point of view that opens up the widest horizons.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“Nothing would improve newspaper criticism so much as the knowledge that it was to be read by men too hardy to acquiesce in the authoritative statement of the reviewer.”
—Richard Holt Hutton (1826–1897)
“When you overpay small people you frighten them. They know that their merits or activities entitle them to no such sums as they are receiving. As a result their boss soars out of economic into magic significance. He becomes a source of blessings rather than wages. Criticism is sacrilege, doubt is heresy.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)