Abercrombie & Fitch has been criticized as a company that has refused to heed economic indicators and, as a result, plummeted in sales. The blame is placed on its chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries, who in 2008 received $71.8 million in total compensation — making him one of the five Highest Paid Worst Performers of 2008 by the Corporate Library. Now, it is alleged that he will receive $4 million to simply stop unlimited use of the corporate jet and travel budget. In 2008, his travel budget cost the company $1.3 million.
According to this article, after he agreed to limit his personal travel at $200,000, he will be given a $4 million lump sum for amending his contract and eliminating this perk.
Next time I pay another $90 for a skimpy shirt for one of my nieces at Abercrombie and Fitch. I can at least feel better that it will go to support Jeffries’ travel needs.
For the full story, click here.
Bdaman:
how many do you want? We can work something out..
Byron,
(I’ve tried to post this response twice already and it disappears so that might be due to a brand name I mention. I’m going to try a third time and then give up)
Add a small, inside pocket for little blue pills and watch the orders increase 10 fold)
Anonymously Yours
Blouise,
Positioning is everything. Just ask Charlie Sheen.
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or Richard Gere
Is there a discount for multiple orders 🙂
Blouise:
may I suggest a fashion accessory for the new radicals – the T-Bag with quotes by Jefferson, Madison, Adams and Ronald Reagan on it and a double white strap for easy carrying. What every well dressed radical brings to the movement. It’s large enough to carry a poster and has pockets for a Bible and the Constitution and a built in holster in .38, .380 auto, 9mm, .44 and .45 calibers your choice. With separate zippered pocket for extra magazines or cartridges.
T-Bag copyright 4/18/2010 all rights reserved, patent pending.
email bpengr@gmail.com to place your order.
$150.00 per each plus $15 shipping and handling. Bible and pocket copy of Constitution included at not extra charge.
Please specify pistol and caliber when ordering.
Blouise,
Positioning is everything. Just ask Charlie Sheen.
Elaine M.
Blouise–
I hear that “scum-bag” is the name of one of Abercrummy’s newest and fastest selling items–designer totes for greedy CEO’s.
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Whew … I’m glad you posted to me. After I wrote scum-bag and hit submit it showed up right under JT’s post and I thought, “Oh no, that doesn’t look good … some Tea Bagger might take advantage of my post’s positioning and think I’m calling the prof out … and then god only knows what AY would’ve written and then ….
As you can see … I have a tendency to fantasize and fatalize
Puzzling:
the other question I have is why would anyone buy overpriced stuff from them anyway? They make all that stuff in China, India, Bangladesh or Malaysia and it is the same stuff that JC Penny’s sells but has the A&F label. It’s like Brooks Brothers, put the golden fleece on a polo shirt and sell it for 50 bucks if it doesn’t have the golden fleece you can buy it at LL Bean for $30 and at Cabela’s for $19.95. Same shirt same material same stitching and probably the same wholesale price plus $1.00 for the fleece embroidery.
So the consumer pays a premium for a name or an icon. good for Brooks Brother and Abercrombie, I wish I could sell a $5 shirt for $50 bucks. I would do that all day long.
Puzzling:
good post, if the CEO isn’t any good it is for the Board and the stock holders to throw him out or as you say sell the stock to vote with their pocket book.
Government has no place in decisions of this nature, correct me if I am wrong but isn’t that called Fascism?
Personally I don’t know why anyone would buy stock in that company when there are other better run retail companies that will provide a better return on investment.
Let the market work and set my people free. 🙂
I’m jealous now!
The Riches was such a great show. Eddie Izzard is a genius. Love him! Got front row seats to see him next month – yippee!
No Elaine, they have the Golden Parachutes and we just get the Showers.
Blouise–
I hear that “scum-bag” is the name of one of Abercrummy’s newest and fastest selling items–designer totes for greedy CEO’s.
scum-bag
Let’s change the title to Abercrummy and Filch.
Then again–Jeffries has a certain lifestyle he needs to sustain. Poor man! The company is limiting the use of his corpowate airpwane. No fair!
Abercrummy it is then
blech…..
How the hell can it make sense for the company to give this over paid CEO a $4million dollar bonus to limit the travel to $200,000? It only saved the company $1.4 million and he pockets $4 million?? On top of an already bloated compensation package of $71 million!! That is outrageous and the shareholders should be up in arms. It would be one thing if A&F had been more successful during that time period, but his and the company’s perfomance sucked.
A&F didn’t want to discount their merchandise, believing it would destroy the aspirational aspect of the brand permanently.
That approach is similar to what you would see from luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton or Valentino. Even Apple does this to some extent. Once the discounting begins, the market will always wait for it.
Jeffries may be guilty of mismanaging expenses, inventory levels and the A&F store footprint in that environment. However, perhaps he was really only guilty of listening to White House and media propaganda that the country would bounce right out of any recession due to trillions spent on stimulus, home bailouts, and artificially low interest rates to spur spending? That’s what all of us were told, over and over and over.
I don’t buy the premise of the article. If shareholders don’t like what the firm is doing they can vote in a new board or sell. If customers don’t like where their dollars are going to, just walk away and shop somewhere else.
People think A&F is bad? At least they have competition to go to.
What are you going to do when the kids go on to college? Government monopolized student lending is going to cost a lot more than that $90, and you’ll have no recourse whatsoever if the government shapes academic enrollment for your child by subsidizing some fields over others, requiring drug and DNA tests to receive aid, or government “service” for lower rates, etc.
The government engineering is about to begin and it’s going to shape lives and careers, not just wardrobes.
Fitch, Flich or Finch. They all make sense to me. lol, which do you prefer for this article?