There’s nothing like company results season to highlight the differing fortunes of big name retail groups, as the ups and downs of profit and loss accounts are published in black and white. But it can also offer at least a glimmer of hope for brands which are at a low ebb.

The Ted Baker brand certainly could do with a boost at the moment, for example. Once a popular high street presence that couldn’t put a foot wrong, the brand has just struck a deal with a US partner that will run its online operations after its final stores closed last week.

Ted Baker owner selects US partner to run UK online business | Retail Gazette.

It’s a far cry from the brand’s heyday, when many UK customers were convinced that Ted Baker was a real person and some even pretended to know him, but retail can see impressive changes in fortune. Brands can recover from tough situations if the right ingredients for success are still in place.

Abercrombie & Fitch’s second quarter results provide a classic lesson in how to bring a fashion brand back to glory.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results | Business Insider.

Back in 2017, the company was at a low ebb, with a share price bottoming out as customers tired of its offer. Then CEO Fran Horowitz joined to turn things around. In the second quarter of this year Abercrombie & Fitch saw sales of US$1.1bn, up more than a fifth on the same period last year.

The recovery is no flash in the pan. The first quarter of the year saw record-breaking sales too, and there have been seven consecutive quarters of net sales growth.
There is no magic to the recovery. Abercrombie & Fitch says the performance is based on hard work to define the role, appeal and customer of each of its individual trading brands, tight control on the amount of price-cutting promotions, and strong new customer acquisition.

Smart new product offers – such as collections designed to suit guests at weekend-long wedding events and improved menswear ranges – have been sold hard with digital marketing and social media campaigns. The company says it spent around 4.5% of that $1.1bn on marketing to keep the momentum going.

The company, which also includes the Hollister brand, has also been working on ‘right-sizing’ its store portfolio. This has seen it close some stores, open others and remodel more. That will continue, with a further 60 refurbs, 60 openings and 40 closures by the end of the year.

The mantra that ‘retail is detail’ has never felt more apt, and the success of brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch serves to highlight the lack of attention paid to brands which are failing.

Brand and reputation are vital in fashion, but they don’t sustain themselves.