Abercrombie & Fitch to open Paris flagship store

Jeans apparel brand Abercrombie & Fitch, although hit hard by a sharp drop in consumer spending in recent months which lead the company to a 46 percent drop in earnings in its third quarter, said it is still on track to open flagships stores around the world. One of the new stores to be opened overseas will be in Paris.

The New Albany-based retailer told investors it has recently received final approval to open an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship on the Champs Elysees in Paris in 2011. Abercrombie opened its first overseas store in London last year and opened its first European Hollister Co. mall-based store in a suburb of London last month.

The company said it is on track to open flagship locations around the world in 2009, including debuts of its namesake stores in Copenhagen and Tokyo along with Abercrombie & Fitch and Abercrombie stores in Milan. Also, Abercrombie continues to pursue lease arrangements for additional store locations in Europe and Asia.

The company began an international push about three years ago, hiring executives to oversee international business development. The first non-U.S. stores opened that year were in Toronto and Edmonton, Canada, where the company now has several stores.