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Where do Abercrombie & Fitch customers shop after settling into a career?
The trendy chain hopes it's an unusual new concept store they opened under a great deal of secrecy at International Plaza in Tampa last month.
With one of the first four test Ruehl No. 925 stores anywhere, A&F is trying some edgy experiments in a store it hopes will blossom into a national mall chain.
For starters, the facade looks nothing like a store. Employees hang out by the door to assure curious customers there's a retail establishment inside. The storefront looks like a red brick Greenwich Village townhouse. Except for a low-key bronze plaque shrouded behind an iron gate, there's no sign.
Inside, shoppers wander through 10 small, dark rooms where the only bright light is focused on the merchandise. The brownstone feel is carried throughout with hipster furniture groupings and New Yorker magazines on the coffee tables.
The vibe, including cool-looking salespeople who model the clothes, is such that some shoppers have even asked if there's a bar in there somewhere.
Ruehl is A&F's version of a growing trend among specialty retail chains: They try to grow along with their customers from one life stage to the next. The Gap tries to get its more sophisticated adult customers to trade up to Banana Republic. The company dreamed up its Old Navy stores as a way to introduce teens to its brands.
There's plenty of overlap, but A&F fashions its Abercrombie chain for kids aged 7 to 14, its Hollister Co. chain for those 14 to 17 and A&F for 18- to 22-year-olds. Ruehl is aimed at 22- to 30-year-old professionals.
The emphasis is on casual sportswear suitable for office work. Prices are 22 percent higher than at A&F, or roughly the same as Ann Taylor or Banana Republic. There's a big emphasis on denim jeans priced at $78 to $148. But the line includes dressier cashmere sweaters, jackets and blazers. The shirt lineup ranges from $26 limited edition tees to $68 dress shirts. A fragrance line comes in antique ink bottles.
A&F even made up a story line for the new store. A German family named Ruehl supposedly lives there, where it maintains a studio for a leather goods business. You can choose from their line of handbags.