Teens at Tysons Love, Hate Abercrombie Brand

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SPOTTING HORDES of teenagers at Tysons Corner Center, aka Tysons I, is by no means out of the ordinary. Sending 61 teenagers into the mall and tracking their movements, analyzing their strategies and examining what they bought and how much they spent is a different story. That's exactly what a team from The Post and washingtonpost.com did. If you click here, you can dive into a special report on their findings and, perhaps, grow to understand the teen consumer mindset a little better.

The teens spent nearly $500 at Hollister, followed by Urban Outfitters ($319.59), American Eagle ($288.79) and Abercrombie & Fitch ($255.23) — although not all of the teens are sold on Abercrombie, which is "infamous for its hotter than thou employees and scandalous marketing," The Post's Ylan Q. Mui reports.

"I usually disdain Abercrombie because of the image they put out," the 17-year-old Kate Bolton of McLean told The Post. "They have muscular guys, images of perfect girls. I think that's bad. I don't like the advertising."

A company spokesman told The Post that the store has a "very targeted strategy" that isn't for everyone. (Who's the mind behind Abercrombie? This guy, who comes off as sort of creepy and says "dude" a lot, according to a profile in Salon last year.)

Anyhow, Mui will conduct a live discussion at noon with retail expert Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst from the NPD Group, and Donna Hamaker, a spokesperson for Bloomingdale's at Tysons Corner Center and White Flint Mall.

» "Tracking Teen Shopping Habits" [WaPo]
» "61 Teens Descend on Tysons, and We're There to Watch" [WaPo]
» "The Store They Love, or Love to Hate" [WaPo]
» "The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch" [Salon]
» "Teen Shopping Habits" [WaPo]

Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post