Abercrombie & Fitch Co. CEO Fran Horowitz keeps on listening

Amid the chaos of a rapidly changing retail environment, there’s one strong constant: “Fran is Fran.”

Fran Horowitz, chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., is known as much for her consistent approachability, authenticity and humility as she is her retail chops. A 40-year veteran of the industry, she is widely credited with the dramatic turnaround of the storied company, helming the separation and reinvention of Abercrombie & Fitch and sister brand Hollister; creating an inclusive and empowering culture; focusing on the customer; and investing in tech.

And yet, as she told Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, she has often heard that she’s just “so normal.” And that’s not a bad thing.

The pair talked during a session at NRF 2026: Retail's Big Show, introduced by Colleen Taylor, president, Merchant Services - U.S. Global Merchant and Network Services, American Express. The night before, Horowitz had received the 2026 Visionary award at the 11th annual NRF Foundation Honors.

American Express is a longtime presenter of the Honors and sponsored the Monday session. NRF and the NRF Foundation, Taylor said, “drive opportunity, fuel innovation and shape the future of our industry. American Express is proud to celebrate the people who are redefining what’s possible in retail.”

During their conversation on stage, Shay frequently referenced Horowitz’s acceptance speech comments from the night before. In addition to her leadership team, Horowitz was surrounded by her family at the gala, and was introduced by her kids. “As a proud parent,” she told the crowd, “it was a very, very special evening.”

Horowitz, who assumed her current role in 2017, got her start in department store retailing and then specialty retailing. Early on, she said, “I was at Bloomingdale’s, and had some incredible mentors there who really helped me understand, whatever level you’re at, be approachable. Make sure that you get to know your associates at every level. Make sure they understand that good ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. And I’ve really taken that to heart and brought that along with me the whole way.”

On the Ohio-based campus of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Horowitz walks to the café every day to see the team, “making sure they know they can come up to me.”

She learns a lot, she said, and sometimes people don’t realize just how much they’re actually sharing.

As Horowitz has evolved in her career, she said, she has continued to learn the importance of staying close to the customer and really listening to them, too. “One of the biggest transitions I had to make was helping the team understand that you can’t tell the customer what they want. They actually have to tell you what they want.”

She gave the example that every pair of the company’s jeans once featured a button fly, despite customer requests for a zipper. “It sounds silly, but it was like, ‘OK. Let’s listen to what they’re telling us and put those zippers in.’” And there have been record sales in denim ever since.

As for being “normal,” Horowitz said it took her a while to figure out what people meant when describing her that way. “I think they appreciate you listening, whether it’s to a personal story, whether it’s to something happening in their life and remembering that it happened and saying something to them about it, checking in.”

These are “the simplest little things,” she said, “but they really are incredibly meaningful … . They know that you sincerely care about them, and you’re not doing it just because you’re supposed to.”

Horowitz’s team members, Shay said, have conveyed that “Fran is Fran,” and that when with her, “you know that she’s actively listening, she’s engaged, she’s fully present.”

The retail journey will keep on evolving, Horowitz said, and she keeps in mind that “what got us here won’t get us there” when looking ahead. Her values will provide an anchor throughout, and will continue to do so as both she and the company grow, expand, listen — and learn.