Abercrombie closes King Street store

After 15 years of catering to youthful clothing buyers at 260 King St., Abercrombie & Fitch recently sewed up its last sale.

The 7,000-square-foot apparel shop on the ground floor of the historic former Kerrisons department store now sports sheets of black plastic across its windows instead of smartly dressed mannequins. Another store in Columbia will close today, and the Greenville location is set to go dark Jan. 28.

Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch did not respond to requests for Friday about the South Carolina closings, but it is not unusual for retailers to take stock after the holidays and shed underperforming stores.

After a steady rise in store openings during the first part of the last decade to as many as 363 in 2007, Abercrombie & Fitch began to close stores after the deep recession set in the next year.

In November the count was down to 319, according to its website. After this month's closings, Abercrombie & Fitch will have one South Carolina store, in Myrtle Beach.

Little remained Friday of the chain's occupation of the prime King Street space except a small sign on the door directing customers to its website. The shop has been gutted, and an overflowing trash container was parked out front.

The space is being marketed, and the "city has been cooperative and helpful" in the landlord's efforts to line up a new tenant, said Eric Meyer of the Daniel Island-based real estate firm Meyer Kapp & Associates.

"There are several interested prospects that would be excellent replacements to help strengthen the retail corridor on King Street," Meyer said Friday.

Abercrombie & Fitch came to Charleston in 1997, injecting fresh life into a property that had sat empty for eight years. Kerrisons closed in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo ripped the roof off its four-story, 1920s-era building.

People walking by the vacant storefront Friday called it another sign of the struggling times for higher-priced clothing.

Sporting an Abercrombie sweat shirt, Eugenia Alvarez Robles said she and some friends bought a jacket and some jeans there about a week ago.

"I liked that store," she said. "It's bad that they are closed because they had good things."

Teenager Avery Buell shopped there two months ago.

"I liked it, but it's bad that it's not there anymore," the Charleston County School of the Arts student said.

College of Charleston freshmen Louise Ray and Kathleen Marshall said the once-preppy-styled Abercrombie & Fitch changed its clothing mix over time to appeal to teenagers mainly.

More recently, they said, it faced stiff competition from discount teen clothier Forever 21, which opened a year ago just down the street in the former Saks Fifth Avenue space.

"It's interesting that they didn't get that much business on this section of King Street," Ray said. "This is one of the nicest sections of the street, and there's a lot of people that walk by here."

Croghan's Jewel Box owner Mariana Hay echoed the students' remarks.

"They changed their mix of clothing. They were too edgy," Hay said. "The same people they attracted were the Forever 21 group."

Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524 or on Twitter at @warrenlancewise.