Is there hope for Abercrombie & Fitch?

New York - It's no secret at this point that Abercrombie & Fitch has fallen from its former glory. The once super popular, preppy teen retailer isn't the must-have that it once was in the 90s and early 00s. In a recent survey from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Abercrombie & Fitch ranked as America's most hated retailer.

The survey questioned 9,358 customers on their shopping experiences at America's biggest retailer. Abercrombie & Fitch scored lowest across all six categories including specialty stores, department and discount stores, and supermarkets. The retailer, which has around 300 sites in the U.S., obtained a low score of 65, around 10 points below the sectors overall score according to CNN money.

The company has made attempts at rebranding themselves after they let go of controversial CEO Mike Jefferies back in 2014. They have attempted to scale down the giant A&F logos that were once found on the clothes, and they have also hired Katia Kuethe formerly of Lucky Magazine as creative director, Kristina Szasz as their women's designer, and Aaron Levine formerly of Club Monaco as their men's wear designer.

The company's glimmer of hope came in Q4, because with Jefferies gone and a new design team in place, the label seems to be seeing healthy growth again.

Abercrombie's potential for a turnaround looking up

The company posted Q4 results and there was a 30 percent jump in profits. For the three months ending January 30, net income rose 57.7 million dollars, or 85 cents a diluted share from 44.4 million dollars, or 63 cents a share just a year ago. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings were 1 dollar and 8 cents, compared with 1 dollar and 15 cents a year ago. Net sales slipped .6 percent to 1.11 billion dollars from 1.12 billion dollars, while comparable store sales rose 1 percent.

The good news for Abercrombie is their results beat Wall Street's expectations by 9 cents, and they also beat revenue expectations of 1.10 billion dollars.

2016 could be a brand new year for Abercrombie & Fitch, and Q4 provided promise for turnaround. With a new team in place, rebranding efforts, and continued merchandise improvement, things could be looking up for the company this year.

photo:wikipedia.org