Hollister: where the music deafens and the hotness blinds

In more Abercombie news that definitely relates to yesterday's,  Times Styles Section journalist Mike Albo does a fantastic job describing the

 new Hollister flagship store in Soho, which according to him,  "kind of looks like that scary Deutsche Bank building at ground zero."  

He confirms everything we already know about Hollister/A&F- the store is like a bat cave, with loud, pounding clubby-pop music to drown out your own thoughts. Scarily good-looking models prance around the store, giving you more attention than you ever got from these kinds of guys back in high school. But of course, here they are hired to be nice to you. And the entire place smells like "Jolly Ranchers being breathed on my face by Hayden Panettiere. "

Highlight of the article:  Re: CEO Michael Jeffries-"If Mr. Jeffries was appointed as White House P.R. director, not only would people all support the Obama health care plan, they would proudly carry it around in a bag covered with homoerotic frat-boy imagery."

Critical Shopper- Hollister: A Long, Lusty Walk on a Short Pier

Photo pulled from graphicshunt.com

A&F----Accidents and Follies?

The Cut from NYMag discusses Abercombie's latest move: after losing over 25 million in this second quarter, they are............lowering prices! And that's not at all- the label will be shutting down some stores as well. 

A&F, Abercrombie Kids and Hollister has always prided itself for its exorbitantly high prices and targeting pre-teens and teens with All-American looking, semi-naked, buff Caucasian models. People flock to the stores to buy a cotton, gray shirt with a moose/bird/some sort of creature on it for approximately $50. 

In response, the company's CEO Michael Jeffries said "We are young. We are sexy. We are controversial at times. That's what we know how to do and that's the business we own here and are comfortable that we can around the world." 

 It's definitely going to be interesting to see what happens to 'sexy' when "Sale" and "25% off" signs appear on the stores' windows. Maybe the sexy models who lurk in front of the stores will make the sales seem "sexier" by using the sale signs to substitute for clothing?