Apparel Sale :: Abercromie launches ruehl.com

In yet another move to dominate the apparel sale market, Abercrombie & Fitch has put it's Ruehl branded store on the internet.   

The Greenwich Village inspired brand caters to the 22- to 35-year-old market of men and women both.  Ruehl sells apparel, handbags, and cologne and perfume.  Although currently, only the handbags, cologne, and perfume are available on the website, plans to roll out the apparel portion of the line is set for Spring of '08.                                Apparel Sale :: Bridgette :: Ruehl.com

Ruehl happens to be the last of the Abercrombie lines to go online, although one has to wonder why.  More sophisticated in terms of offerrings, compared to both Abercrombie.com and their other adult apparel site, hollister.com, you would think this would have been launched long ago in an effort to draw in a different market segment.  With handbags ranging in price from the $150's to almost $400, they could have been competitive in this market share long before now.   

An article in Columbus Business First reports that the physical stores of Ruehl posted a 14% increase after one year of being open; a number that would have likely been higher had people had the opportunity to view the product online, and use the store locator to find one near them. 

The bags they offer are sophisticated and well made; a great mid-range handbag that is perfect for the working professional that is just starting out and can't yet afford that $600 Coach bag.