Hollister Co.

Hollister Co., sometimes advertised as Hollister or HCo., is an American lifestyle brand by Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The concept was originally designed to attract consumers aged 14–18, at a lower price point than the parent brand through its SoCal-inspired image and casual wear. Goods are available in-store and through the company's online store. It was ranked as the second most preferred clothing brand of US teens on a long list of actual West Coast companies in 2008 by Piper Jaffray.

History

Pseudo-establishment

All of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s spin-off brands have an elaborate pseudo-history (including RUEHL No.925 and Gilly Hicks) to give meaning and feeling to the brand image of the Hollister conceptional character named John M. Hollister. An adventurous youth, he spent his early days practicing sports in the waters of Maine. He graduated from Yale University in 1915 at the age of 21. Not wanting the high-life his father established for him in Manhattan, the young man boarded a succession of steamboats, finally arriving in the Dutch East Indies by 1917. There, he bought a rubber plantation from the fictitious Gregory Van Gilder, and soon came to know and love Gilder's daughter, Meta. Afterwards, Hollister sold the land, and with half of the money purchased a 50-foot (15 m) schooner on which he and Meta spent two years sailing the South Pacific Ocean treasuring the diverse cultures. John and Meta harboured in Los Angeles in 1919, and married in the late fall. John M. Hollister, Jr. was born in 1920, and after "discovering California and himself" with his love for the South Pacific in mind John Sr. established Hollister Co. in 1922 in Laguna Beach. The company became purveyors of South Pacific treasures (hand-crafted furniture, jewelry, linens, and artifacts from all the islands). The company changed after John M. Hollister, Jr. took over the business in 1957, bringing surf apparel and equipment into the inventory. Only in fantasy is the company said to be still managed by the Hollisters. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. calls the story "a story of passion, youth and love of the sea [carrying] the harmony of romance, beauty, adventure."

The story is not made publicly available but it helps tie in many elements of the brand with what was, in reality, conceived by Abercrombie & Fitch Co. in the 21st century. The Hollister Co. brand is marketed as being established in 1922, and the date is found on the labels and designs of the merchandise. The store is designed to simulate the feeling of being in a surf shop. Furthermore, the story of the character John Jr. being a renowned surfer is on the back of Jake cologne packaging.

Opening and effect

The first store was opened in July 2000 at the Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.

HCO's rapid success led Abercrombie & Fitch Co. to notice that the HCo. brand then surpassed the Abercrombie & Fitch brand. In order to properly distinguish A&F from HCo., higher-grade materials and construction were introduced strictly in the production of A&F clothing and goods, thus raising the prices of the merchandise. The store is mainly focusing clothes from the ages of 14-18.

From international expansion to today

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. expanded into Canada in mid-January 2006. A&F opened Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister Co. stores at the Toronto Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens shopping malls in Toronto, Ontario. These openings were delayed from the end of 2005 to early 2006 by construction and planning issues. As of 2009, HCo. locations in Canada were: Sherway Gardens, Toronto Eaton Centre, and Fairview Mall in Toronto, the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, and Upper Canada Mall, in Newmarket, Ontario, and Pacific Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia as of January 29, 2009. In 2010, the store's eighth location in Canada opened at Polo Park in Winnipeg, and a store opened on October 29, at Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, Ontario. In 2011, the first Hollister store in Atlantic Canada opened at the Halifax Shopping Center in Halifax. Stores also opened in Hamilton, Ontario and Brampton, Ontario in 2011.

Starting summer 2007, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. spent an approximate amount of $10 million USD to install video walls into Hollister Co. stores nationwide. The walls play live-feed from Surf City Huntington Beach, California to provide customers with a flavor of the SoCal surf atmosphere HCo. promotes. Hollister pays the city of Huntington Beach for the cameras located on the Huntington Beach Pier. By October 2, 2007, 100 select Hollister California stores began to promote Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s fifth brand Gilly Hicks prior to the latter's debut in January 2008. Advertising was achieved through a variety of body care items including body sprays, deodorant, soaps, lotions, and lip balms called Sessions.

On October 25, 2008, Hollister Co. opened its first store outside of the U.S. and Canada in Brent Cross, London. In December 2008 Hollister Co. opened its second store in the UK in Westfield London and a third at the upmarket Bluewater shopping centre, Kent, UK. Further more, after the success of the UK HCo. stores in London, the first Hollister store outside of London was opened on May 14, 2009 in WestQuay Shopping centre in Southampton, its fifth UK store was opened in Milton Keynes at the beginning of 2010. There are also Hollister stores in Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre, Norwich's Chapelfield shopping centre, Birmingham's Bullring, Manchester's Trafford Centre mall, Solihull's Touchwood Centre and Newcastle upon Tyne's Eldon Square there is also a store in Westfield Stratford city and in the Oracle shopping centre in Reading . Hollister Co. has also opened stores in Italy (Rome), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Oberhausen, Hamburg, Ludwigshafen, Neuss, Cologne and Dresden), and more recently in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid). In 2011 Hollister opened its first store in Dublin, Ireland in the Dundrum Town Centre.

Marketing for the HCo. flagship was launched in May 2009. The extensive marketing campaign advertised the store as "The Epic Hollister Store." A&F launched HCORideTheWave.com which offered electronic postcards, downloadable wallpaper and screensaver as well as directions to the flagship and a promotional film with computer-generated graphics of the multi-level floor layout and design. A countdown timer called the "Epic Countdown" tells the remaining time down to seconds till the opening. The first flagship for the HCo. brand was finally opened July 16, 2009.

Marketing and goods

Branding and marketing

Hollister California pursues the technique of "walking self-marketing", where in wearing an item of clothing from HCO results in direct advertising. This is notably achieved through the large embroidery or screenprint of the brand's name, initials, fictional date of establishment and the flying seagull logo on the vast majority of their merchandise. The HCO-labeled shopping bag carried out of the store produces a similar effect. As a result, the company has not relied on media marketing to communicate its desired look and appeal. The brand's marketing images are modified in order to look somewhat faded; this is reminiscent of the grayscale marketing images used by the Abercrombie & Fitch brand. The sepia toned images provide HCO's campaigns with a vintage feel that is adequate to their fictional date of establishment, and the lifestyle promoted by the brand.

Merchandise

A Hollister tee shirt.

A pair of Hollister jeans, worn by a young girl

Goods are given names from SoCal beaches, something which Gilly Hicks does similarly with Australian beaches. The labels proclaim Hollister Co. as "pacific merchants" established in 1922. A&F Corporate keeps HCO price points affordable to its targeted high school consumers. Being said, HCo price points are about 20% lower than its parent Abercrombie & Fitch. To maintain the SoCal theme, stores and merchandise are categorized within the divisions named "Dudes" (men) and "Bettys" (women).

Clothing offerings by Hollister Co. include but is not limited to "graphic" and "crew & tee" shirts, polos, Henleys, cardigans, shirts, pullovers, outerwear, rinse or wash slim jeans, flip-flops, cologne or perfume, boxers and so on.

Fragrances

In 2001, Hollister released its signature fragrance Hollister Co. for women and men. It was discontinued in 2005. In 2004, August was released for women, Drift for men. Both were discontinued in 2007. In 2005, Malaia was released for women, Jake for men. In 2006, Ryder was released for women, HCO22 for men. Both were discontinued in 2009. In 2007, SoCal perfume was released for women, SoCal cologne for men. SoCal cologne is currently the room spray. In 2008, California perfume was released for women, California cologne for men. California for men was discontinued in 2011. With the opening of the flagship store in New York, Hollister released flagship-only cologne called Epic. Epic is also available online. In 2010, Sadie was released for women. In 2011, Break Line was released for men. In 2012, Addison was released for women.

Fragrance Name:	For:	Year Released:	Year Discontinued:	Room Spray:
Hollister Co.	Bettys & Dudes	2001	2005	2001–2004
August	Bettys	2004	2007
Drift	Dudes	2004	2007	2004–2005
Malaia	Bettys	2005	2012
Jake	Dudes	2005		2005–2006
Ryder	Bettys	2006	2009
HCO22	Dudes	2006	2009	2006–2007
SoCal	Bettys	2007
SoCal	Dudes	2007		2007-Current
California	Bettys	2008	2010
California	Dudes	2008	2011
Epic	Dudes	2009		Epic Store ONLY
Sadie	Bettys	2010
Break Line	Dudes	2011
Addison	Bettys	2012

Body Care

Originally known as "Sessions," the body care line has been simplified to "Body Care." Upon its original release, Hollister Body Care products included: body wash, body lotion, mist, body spray, deodorant/antiperspirant, lip gloss, lip shine, and lip balm. A short time after the initial release they unveiled hair wax, and hand lotion. The deodorant/antiperspirant, lip gloss, lip shine, lip balm, hair wax, and the betty's body wash have all been discontinued.

For Bettys:

Name:	Year Released:	Year Discontinued:	Notes:
La Jolla	2008	2009	?
Hermosa Beach	2008	2010	?
Ventura	2008	2010	cranberry, crystallized vanilla
Malibu Beach	2008		almond, vanilla
Laguna Beach	2008		peach, freesia, coconut milk
Crystal Cove	2008		kiwi, wild strawberry
Solana Beach	2010		raspberry, apple, strawberry, jasmine, white musk
Crescent Bay	2011		juicy watermelon, California poppy
Silver Strand Beach	2012		aloe, mandarin, peach blossom

For Dudes:

Name:	Year Released:	Year Discontinued:	Notes:
Mission Beach	2008	2010	?
Redondo Beach	2008	2010	?
Balboa Beach	2008	2010	?
Huntington Beach	2008		suede, amberwood
Newport Beach	2008		bamboo leaves, driftwood, musk
Manhattan Beach	2008		driftwood, citrus fruits, amber
Beacon's Beach	2010		zesty lemon, sage, beachwood
Breaker's Beach	2012		mint, mandarin leaf, redwood

Look policy

Hollister Co. has their employees abide by a dress code. Employees must wear contemporary Hollister clothing. Females are told to wear minimal makeup only in natural tones, and little to no jewelry is expected for girls while guys may not wear jewelry. Girls are only allowed to wear a pair of earrings that are stones. Everyone must wear navy, grey, or white, with an additional color such as olive or burgundy being added depending on the season. With each floorset change, employees are given a choice of items to purchase with a 50% discount, called AAA (Abercrombie Associates with Attitude), with the selected looks displayed on the employee AAA chart, usually posted on the door in the stockroom. For the summer season, short sleeved shirts and polos are the usual attire for males. Year round, black clothing is strictly prohibited. Women are asked to wear dark wash skinny jeans, preferably Hollister brand jeans, and if the jeans are not in fact Hollister they may not have any back pocket stitching or any logos on them. Males must also wear dark wash slim jeans, and abide by the same rules as women, for example keeping a clean and professional hair style, and a clean shaven face. To go along with the new redesigned jeans for 2011, associates jeans must be cuffed at the bottom as well. Hollister Co. prohibits any type of shoe that is not a white, blue or leather flip flop, for both men and women. If an employee would like to wear sneakers, the only acceptable brands are Vans and Toms in the season's specified colors (usually navy or grey), and must be slip on style shoes. All attire must always be clean and professional looking and is subject to daily approval.

Stores

Side view of the Hollister California storefront in the Sunvalley Mall, Concord, California

Abercrombie & Fitch has designed Hollister Co. stores to simulate the appearance of vintage beach shacks in an indoor shopping mall, making Hollister stores stand out from any other store in the mall. Exterior décor include shuttered windows, and light and dark brown patten walls. A teal boardwalk with three steps leads to the entrance, with plans to eventually include a low-hanging chandelier on the porch of all stores, one of many upgrades being brought to all stores. The interior of the store is mostly concealed from outside view by a parallel wall. The shuttered windows were meant to add to the atmosphere of the store and keep out customers that did not fit in, while also allowing customers in wheelchairs access to the store without using the porch steps as these shuttered doors are in fact fully operational doors. Abercrombie & Fitch experimented with shuttered windows when they created Hollister Co. and the concept was eventually expanded to the Abercrombie & Fitch brand.

Retail space is divided into separate rooms with half of the store devoted to "Dudes" and the other to "Bettys" (which usually overflows onto the "Dudes" side in the back clearance room). Hollister Co. stores have their own monthly playlist, which is packed with surfer inspired tunes to set the whole beach shack mood and played at a fairly high volume through many strategically placed speakers throughout the store. Customers used to be able to choose the songs they want to hear using a touch screen positioned on the checkout counter wall, however this feature was removed leaving the touch screen to only display the songs titles and artists. Dimly lit by spot-lighting, the interior décor throughout includes leather armchairs, worn rugs, patterened wallpaper (part of the recent store upgrades), surf boards lining the wall behind the registers (some bearing "Hollister"), and potted palm trees placed around the store. A central room (housing bodycare merchandise and the cashwrap or checkout area) plays as a "living room" and offers dozens of surf and general popular culture magazines for sale along with CDs of the music being played in store. The merchandise itself is displayed on built-in closets and shelves along with dark wooden tables, cots, and benches strategically placed in the rooms. Recently the stores have changed the layout and style of the merchandise tables, favoring rectangular tables over rounded tables for space and loss prevention reasons. Mandated by corporate, the stores and clothing itself are constantly kept scented with the current popular HCo fragrance SoCal via spritzing by employees and a recently installed computerized spritzing system installed in the ceiling which releases fragrance at timed intervals. This is part of the reason customers can usually smell the store before they even approach it, a good or bad effect depending on if one likes the fragrance, which many customers do and actually enjoy the clothing being "pre-scented".

Originally, the store design included a resident live Maine Coon cat, named Fletcher, and a Green wing Macaw named Riley. Animal rights activists protested the inappropriate and inhumane use of live animals in the store décor, given the dim lighting and loud music (see below). The stores relinquished the animals in November 2000. Other changes since the stores inception include the abandonment of the surf style locker room style dressing rooms, in favor of the traditional sectioned-off one person behind a curtain style dressing room. The music level has also been reduced due to complaints from parents and special interest groups, though the music level usually varies on store and usually is not consistent day to day as it once was.

Music

Hollister Co. stores are known to play an eclectic selection of alternative rock and pop music. The company policy is to play the music at the 80–85 decibel level. One investigation measured the level of sound at 90 decibels. OSHA requires employers to provide ear protection to employees exposed to decibel levels 90 or over. A store manager in a particular Hollister store stated that there were complaints from customers, but that the volume was mandated by corporate policy, though depending on the day and on the store, the music is usually lower due to the complaints.

Flagship stores

The Company opened the first ever flagship store for the Hollister concept 16 July 2009, calling it "the coolest store to open in NYC." The flagship is located in the fashionable SoHo district on 600 Broadway at the southeast corner of Houston and Broadway. Four floors of the occupied building provide a retail space of 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m²). The flagship rep. commented, "The EPIC store is what Hollister is all about—big waves, surf, sun, and hanging out on the pier. The laidback HCo. vibe is effortlessly cool, and we're bringing the SoCal lifestyle to SoHo." Thomas D. Lennox (Vice President of Corporate Communications, A&F Co.) stated that the company believes the flagship will be a "memorable" and "unique" experience to customers, as well as an important step for the brand. Out of the total capital expenditures for fiscal 2008 of A&F Co. (up to 445 million USD), approximately 300 million USD was spent on new store construction and remodeling, including the HCO flagship.

In November 2009, A&F released plans to open an "EPIC Hollister" in 2010 on Fifth Avenue. In February 2010, A&F officially confirmed its plan to open a second EPIC flagship in New York. The location, originally planned for an abercrombie flagship, is on 666 Fifth Avenue, and included 22,000 square feet (2,000 m²) of retail space. The location was the previous second flagship spot of Brooks Brothers which vacated January 31, 2009. 666 is also one of the most expensive retail spaces on the Avenue is near the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship and such luxury boutiques as Chanel, Fendi, and Prada. The Fifth Avenue Hollister flagship opened in the later part of 2010 and features a live video feed from Huntington Beach displayed on 179 flat-screen TVs outside the store along with wave pools.

Abercrombie & Fitch anticipates opportunities for opening HCO flagships "on an international basis" in the near future. It is called the "EPIC" expansion program for HCO a part of the greater expansion effort for all A&F brands on a global scale. On May 12, 2012, the first international HCO flagship store opened on Regent Street, London.

Future store expansion

United States and Canada

After a turbulent Christmas 2008 fashion season with economic turn-down in the retail industry, Abercrombie & Fitch has adjusted its plans for 2009 to fit the persisting "environment". For 2009, the company's main commitment domestically for Hollister was the opening of the HCO flagship in SoHo.

Since December 2008, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. opened Hollister Co stores throughout the United States.

Hollister Co. has 11 locations in Canada. Six locations in Ontario, two in Alberta, and one in each British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia. New Hollister stores are now open in Hamilton, Ontario and Brampton, Ontario. Masonville Place in London, Ontario is supposedly next for a location as well.

United Kingdom

As of May 2012 there are 28 stores in the United Kingdom.

Listed below are the confirmed locations for new stores, with planned opening dates (when available):

• Leeds, Trinity Leeds (2013)
• Cheshire, Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet (2013) (outlet store)

It is understood that A&F is in talks to take another four to five stores for HCO but many locations under discussion have not been revealed. However the Hollister Co. brand together with its parent company Abercrombie & Fitch brand is being criticized in the UK because the merchandise that is offered to the UK customers cost double the prices (or even a direct $/£ swap) found in the United States.

Rest of Europe

Hollister store in Rheinparkcenter, Neuss, Germany

Hollister currently has stores in Ireland, France, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, and Italy. In September 2012 they opened a store in Maastricht, Netherlands. There are plans to open a store in Den Haag in the Netherlands in 2013.

Asia

Hollister opened in Hong Kong at Festival Walk, Hysan Place in 2011. In 2012, Hollister opened a store in South Korea.

Australia and Middle East

Hollister has plans to open stores in Australia and the Middle East in 2013.

Legal issues

Protection of trademark at city's expense

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times in April 2009, Abercrombie & Fitch has threatened merchants and residents of Hollister, California who want to use the name "Hollister" on clothing. The article quotes David Cupps, general counsel for Abercrombie & Fitch: "If they try, they would get a call and much more."

Also according to the article: "The controversy over the name heated up in 2006 when Stacey Crummett, chief executive of Hollister-based Rag City Blues, added the word "Hollister" to the label of her vintage bluejeans. In response to her trademark application, Abercrombie & Fitch attorneys sent her a letter alleging she was violating the company's trademark and threatening to sue."

"Even students at Hollister's San Benito High School wonder if they are violating Abercrombie & Fitch's trademark by wearing shirts emblazed with the school nickname, the Hollister Haybalers."

"Hollister City Atty. Stephanie Atigh insists that Abercrombie & Fitch cannot sue if locals are simply putting the town name on clothes to identify the geographic location."

Morris vs. Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

In 2007, the lawsuit Morris vs. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was settled. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. admitted that they should have not asked their California customers for personal identification information during credit card refund transactions. Customers who were asked this information during June 9, 2005 through May 31, 2007 may be entitled to receive gift cards. Since the settlement, A&F Co. brands' stores have stopped asking for this information for returns on purchases for which a credit card had been used.

Religious discrimination

A&F was charged for discrimination against an employee at a Californian Hollister Co. store who was criticised for wearing a hijab instore. The Muslim college student had been hired at an interview where she had worn a hijab as well. The interviewer told her she could only wear it in colors gray, navy, and white, but was told by a District Manager to remove it during a work day. The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed against Abercrombie & Fitch on February 23 with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A&F had previously received a complaint in September 2009 over the same circumstance occurring in Oklahoma.

Wheelchair accessibility

In August 2011, Judge Wiley Daniel of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado ruled that two Hollister stores in the state were not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act due to the fact they have a porch-like entrance that contains steps while customers in wheelchairs have to access the stores through automatic side doors rather than the main entrance. The judge ruled discrimination due to the fact that customers in wheelchairs have to use separate doors from other customers.

Controversy

Red Poppy

In November 2010, an assistant manager in the WestQuay, Southampton branch prevented an employee, Harriet Phipps, from wearing the Red Poppy, which is worn as part of the Armistice Day commemorations in the United Kingdom every November. The official Abercrombie & Fitch reason for the refusal was reported to be that the poppy is not considered part of the corporate approved uniform, and is therefore prohibited. The debacle attracted interest in the media, with Phipps appearing on ITV1's morning breakfast programme Daybreak, The Daily Mail and other newspapers, as well as on televised BBC News bulletins on 8 November 2010.

Archie Parson, secretary for the Southampton branch of The Royal British Legion, said: "I just hope the shop reconsiders its decision and a compromise can be made because it seems a bit insensitive not to back our troops putting their lives on the line."

After complaints, many upon Hollister's Facebook page, Hollister posted an update upon their page stating:

As an American company that has been around since 1892, we appreciate the sacrifices of the British and American servicemen/women in the World Wars and in military conflicts that continue today. Our company policy is to allow associates to wear a poppy as a token of this appreciation on Remembrance Day. Going forward, we will revisit this policy to the days/weeks leading up to Remembrance Day.

Racist photo

In August 2012, Hollister opened a store in South Korea and flew in several male models to promote it. One of the models took a photo of himself there with a "squinty-eyed" face, and another model gave the middle finger to cameras.

External links

• Official website