Abercrombie & Fitch begins selling Sperry, Hunter and Puma

Abercrombie & Fitch is taking a page out of rival Aritzia’s playbook by adding outside footwear brands like Puma and Sperry to its assortment as the retailer turns to new categories to chase growth. 

Since partnering with Sperry in April to sell select apparel and footwear styles from the brand online and in stores, Abercrombie has expanded and is now offering shoes from Puma, Frye, Hunter and GH Bass.

For now, the only place Abercrombie is offering all of the brands together is at its new 10,000-square-foot outpost in New York City where they launched for the first time this month. If the release performs well, the company could expand the full range of brands to more stores and online in the future. Currently, the only outside brands Abercrombie is selling online are Puma and Sperry. 

In an interview with CNBC, the company’s new managing director for the Americas Melissa Worth said the expansion into third-party brands is important for customer acquisition, but also helps retain existing shoppers and encourages them to spend more. 

“Our high-value customers, how do we make sure that we’re outfitting them across all of their needs? And this is a place that they can come for those things, but also a new point of discovery for a consumer that we haven’t potentially acquired yet,” said Worth. “So someone that could be looking for Puma or Frye, they come in … they’re excited to see these offerings, they purchase one of these, as well as an outfit from us, and that’s the goal in terms of how we’re looking to bring it all together.” 

Abercrombie said it decided to launch outside footwear brands as customers ask for more from the apparel retailer. For example, the company said one of the most frequent questions customers ask on its social media channels is “Where can I buy those shoes?”

Abercrombie’s move into outside brands marks a modern first for the 134-year-old company, which has long exclusively sold its own products in stores but is finding it harder to generate organic growth, expand its customer base and compete in a crowded apparel market. 

Janine Stichter, a retail analyst and managing director at BTIG, doesn’t expect outside brands to make up a significant portion of sales, but said they could be critical customer acquisition tools and drive more meaningful revenue over time. 

“This is a strategic move on their part to bring in a like-minded customer,” said Stichter. “A customer who has potential to shop the brand, maybe isn’t already, and now will be introduced to the brand that way.” 

Category expansion overall will be key to the retailer’s next chapter of growth, and blending a mix of Abercrombie-designed accessories with external footwear brands will allow the company to offer its customers more options in a cost-effective, simple way, said Stichter. 

“We’re increasingly seeing the consumer want [a…