Abercrombie & Fitch plans over 100 new stores in China(2)

A model of Abercrombie & Fitch takes selfies with visitors during a media preview of its new flagship store in Shanghai on Thursday. The four-story shop, its first flagship store on Chinese mainland, will open on Saturday. Yang Lei / For China Daily

"Chinese consumers seem to be looking for something a little beyond just blinged-out luxury logos, and we think the laid-backsophistication that A&F offers is timed right," Brommers said.

Asked how the Chinese market will contribute to the company's revenue across its worldwide port-folio, Brommers said: "We didn't makepredictions yet but we do know that the seven Hollister stores on the Chinese mainland are offering a very encouraging start. We haveseen sales increase at 35 percent for the Hollister stores and we expect similar strong results for A&F in near future."

Abercrombie is set to open another A&F store this year in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and is seeking opportunities for bothA&F and Hollister in other Chinese cities." When we enter a new market, we generally look for prime locations in the most importantshopping districts," Brommers said. "We have found when we expanded around the world that a prime location is the most importantingredient.

"It's a not a cookie-cutter format. We have to take the time to find a right location for our brand, "he said.