LAUNCHED IN 2010, THE SITCH ON FITCH BECAME THE INSPIRED, RESPECTED BRAND OF PASSION OVER THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND PRESTIGE OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO. (ADMIRATION FOR ITS PAST GOING BACK TO 1892 AND FOR THE MODERN-TIME HEIGHTS OF THE MIKE JEFFRIES ERA); IT WAS OFFICIALLY, POSITIVELY RECOGNIZED BY A&F HOME OFFICE BY APRIL 2012, WITH A DIRECT EMAIL TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, DURING ITS GROWTH AS THE ONE-OF-A-KIND, MULTINATIONAL ONLINE PUBLICATION, WITH HIGH-GRADE PRESENTATION WHICH EVOLVED OVER ITS RUN, FOR RELEVANT, UNIQUE, IN-DEPTH BUSINESS, CULTURE, AND STYLE CONTENT FOR THE COMMUNITY OF CUSTOMERS AND ASSOCIATES WORLDWIDE (MONTHLY PAGEVIEWS SURPASSED 110K BY AUGUST 2012); AND IT WAS FOLDED BY SEPTEMBER 2015 AFTER THE DECEMBER 2014 RETIREMENT OF MIKE JEFFRIES AND THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S DISTASTE WITH THE FURTHER DEGRADATION OF THE COMPANY BY ITS NEW MANAGEMENT. WITH CONTENT BY THE PERSPECTIVE OF DEVOTED CUSTOMERS AND ASSOCIATES FROM AMERICA, EUROPE AND FAR EAST ASIA, THE SITCH ON FITCH (2010-2015) REMAINS AS A HISTORICAL, ZEITGEIST ONLINE PUBLICATION OVER THE FINAL YEARS OF THE MIKE JEFFRIES ERA. THIS SITE WILL BE REVAMPED SOON TO OFFICIATE AN INTELLIGENT ARCHIVE FOR THE USE OF ALL PARTIES INTERESTED IN THE CONTENT PUBLISHED DURING THE PUBLICATION'S ORIGINAL RUN.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Fake Hollister Store in Ireland Shut Down...

Looking cool for the opening of Ireland's first, and currently only, Hollister.
Dundrum Town Centre, July 2011 | (image source)
The presence of the Abercrombie & Fitch company in Ireland has been a major topic this year. Principally, this is do to the hype surrounding the much anticipated opening of the first A&F Flagship in Ireland, come Christmas 2012, in the Dublin capital. But many also wonder whether the Company will introduce another Hollister store in the foreseeable future. After all, there is only one Hollister in Ireland – that highly successful shop at the Dundrum Town Centre shopping center – and it is the only shop serving the mass of Irish fans of authentic SoCal cool...

Well, that was until one man decided to capitalize on the situation and open a shop of his own.

Out on the other side of Ireland, on the west of the Irish island, operated a small little "Hollister" shop which purveyed a limited collection of HCo merchandise. The owner of the place? Not Abercrombie & Fitch for sure. It was Max Kulczynski (picture), age 27, a fisherman by profession, and originally from England, who opened the fake store in the back of his home in early-April 2012 in Kilkee, County Clare – a small coastal town mostly known as a seaside resort. Unfortunately for Kulczynski, he was uncovered and the fake retail fantasy ended soon enough.

The Irish police force – the Garda Síochána na hÉireann, more commonly referred to as the "Gardai" (guardians) – entered the two-roomed place, with a search warrant, on May 18, and raided the false shop. At the time, 14 people were found shopping inside when the police also found 596 items of merchandise valued at EU€30,000.00 (US$36,818.00 / GB£23,423.00). While the store was a fake, the merchandise was not. Kulczynski had purchased them all from the Hollister store in the Indian River shopping center of Vero Beach, Florida, during his previous three month stay in the US state: "he had obtained the goods [...] through another person employed in the retail clothing business, and employed a separate company to ship the clothes to Ireland."[source 1] Kulczynski had one room for men and for women individually in the HCo mock-store which police also discovered stocked other clothing brand names. It has not been shared what exactly the man was charging people for the goods, and neither is it known as to how much he had actually managed to sell before the raid.

The offense is clearly the operation of an unlicensed, counterfeit retail store reselling merchandise; it is in violation of the 1996 Trademarks Act which states that "it is illegal to sell trademarked goods from the US in Ireland unless they are licensed to be sold here and the manufacturer has given consent."[source 2] Kulczynski was taken to court and he made his appearance – "[remaining] silent throughout the brief hearing" – at the Ennis District Court on July 13. However, Abercrombie & Fitch did not seek costs and merely ordered the return of all merchandise to the Company.

Take note that Abercrombie & Fitch Co does not franchise any of its retail locations. All A&F Family stores are directly owned and managed by Abercrombie & Fitch Co ensuring authenticity and quality....

Stay FIERCE!
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