Abercrombie & Fitch No Longer Cool

NEW YORK (TheStreet -- Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) has lost its "cool" status among teens.

During the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference held in New York this week, a panel of high school students almost unanimously named Abercrombie & Fitch, and its Hollister chain, as passé. The teen panel said it's more a destination for guys or younger shoppers.

"Everything looks the same in five different colors," one high school senior said.

"They over-price things. Everything is too small," another said.

One teen who works at Hollister even said she will only wear the clothes to go to work at the store because she has to but won't wear them outside of the store.

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise if you look at the teen retailers numbers. In May, Abercrombie & Fitch saw a 3% drop in same-store sales. By division, namesake stores inched up 2%, dropped 10% at abercrombie and declined 6% at Hollister.

Still, if prices were cheaper, some of those teens on today's panel said they would return to Abercrombie & Fitch.

Mid-tier department store J.C. Penney was also shunned by the group -- though several mentioned frequenting rival Kohl's (KSS).

Instead, the teen panel named Urban Outfitters (URBN) and privately-held retailer Forever 21, as go-to shopping destinations.

Nordstrom> (JWN) was also named as a favorite destination among teens, citing its ease of shopping and the for convenience of offering clothes, cosmetics and accessories all in one place.

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