Leading teen clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch has publicly stated that they will never sell women's clothing in a size XL because they don't want overweight women wearing their brand. In fact, the only reason the brand sells clothing to men marked XL or XXL is to accommodate the larger athletes. By coming out and directly stating this is their market, Abercrombie risks offending or alienating potential customers - but they don't care.

CEO Mike Jefferies isn't ashamed that his company focuses so much on appearances. “It’s almost everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other that,” he said. “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."

Although competitor H&M carries women's clothing to a size 16 and American Eagle sells up to a women's size 18, Abercrombie has remained adamant they will never carry women's pants larger than a size 10. Perhaps if Jefferies had taken a retail management training course, like the one offered at Ashworth College, he would understand better business practices to avoid alienating potential consumers.

What do you think of this? Do you shop at Abercrombie? Will these statements change your perception on the clothing giant?

Opening your own small retail store is a great way for people working in retail management careers to maximize their creativity and control over their product.  While owning a small boutique, specialty gift store, or another niche shop can be fun, it also can seem intimidating.  Competing with the big name and widely known store doesn't have to mean your store won't survive.  In fact, just the opposite may be true. Here are some ways to make your small store work for you.

• Big merchandise stores often have a little bit of everything.  Instead of copying their model, use your small store as a chance to become a specialist.  By focusing on one type of item to create and sell, you become somewhat of an expert on that item. 
• Having a small store gives you the opportunity to be flexible with pricing.  This isn't saying give everything away, but for large purchases or regular customers, you can give them slight discounts here and there.  This generates good business and great word of mouth.  Because smaller businesses have more flexibility than big box stores when it comes to pricing, this personal touch will make them remember your store.
• Speaking of personal touches, having a small store allows you to interract with your customers and develop great personal relationships with customers and really be able to help them.

Do you have any other tips?

With everything being made by machines in bulk or being made in foreign countries to save on cost, it's often hard to remember that America used to have full neighborhoods where everyone worked in fashion retail careers.  In Brooklyn, New York, there once was an entire area known as the garment district where people made clothing and accessories by hand.  Now, only one of those factories is still in existance.

This piece of American history, called LaCrasia Gloves, is owned by Lacrasia Duchein and her husband, Jay Ruckel.  Twenty years ago, the store had 35 employees and made about 60,000 pairs of gloves each year.  Now they're down to six employees and are hoping to make 5,000 sets of gloves.  This isn't to say they don't have some noteable clientele.  From first ladies to Lady Gaga, LaCrasia Gloves is still relevant in Hollywood.

How does this story make you feel?

With the hot weather of summer time, both men and women tend to wear less clothing in order to keep cool.  For women, many choose to wear short sleeves or dresses to keep cool, but others like to show a little more skin.  For those who want to show off a little more, midriff tops are coming back into style.  This time around, the midriffs are different than the ones Britney Spears made famous in 1996.  Here's how to rock the new style without looking like a blast from the 90s.

1. To avoid looking like a teenybopper from the N'Sync days, don't show your bellybutton.  Modern midriff tops cut right under the bustline and are paired with a bottom that covers the navel. 
2. Just because the top is cropped, you don't need to look like a rockstar.  Keep it intersting by making it girly instead of pairing it with black leather pants. 
3. If you haven't been hitting the gym all year or just don't feel comfortable showing that much skin, layering your midriff top is perfectly acceptible.  Many wear their crop top over a maxi dress or with a tank top underneath just to add that little bit of extra coverage.

As a student in fashion retailing school, what other tips do you have?

Vogue, the magazine that is most looked to as the final word in all things stylish and "in" is looking to revolutionize the fashion industry again.  This time, the magazine is more concerned with who is walking the runway, rather than the style of clothing.  Vogue has taken it upon themselves to re-invent the way people perceive body image by not hiring models who are under the age of 16 and also, not hiring models that appear to have an eating disorder. 

Vogue now asks photographers to check models' ID's when they come for casting shoots to prove the model is the right age.  They're also calling on designers to make larger sample sizes in hopes the models will be a more "normal" weight.  This notion of models being much smaller than the average woman is a relatively new concept.  It used to be fashion models weighed 8% less than the average woman; now that's up to 26% less.

Vogue is hoping to make everyone, from magazines to fashion retailers to shoppers, realize that they too can and should be comfortable in their own bodies and looking up to these rail thin models is unattainable.

What do you think of this movement?

A store is only as good as the employees that work there.  It is typically the experience a customer has with the employees that define whether or not they plan on returning to your store and shopping again.  In order to ensure you have a happy staff and your customers remain happy, you need to hire quality employees.  Here are some tips to hiring when you're working in retail management careers.

• When you're conducting interviews, be sure to call their professional references.  This will give you more of an in depth look at who they are and not just what their resume says.  You can ask about work ethic, ability to show up on time, compatibility with others, and so on.

• No one knows your product better than a frequent customer.  Keep a stack of applications behind the register just in case one asks for a job.  These people have been on the customer end of your store and you know they are passionate about your product.  Keep them in mind when you decide to hire.

• Be cautious when hiring a friend or family member.  If something does go wrong, you will need to be able to talk to them as an employer and be taken seriously.  You also wouldn't want anything to get awkward should they decide to leave the company.

Do you have any other advice?

When most people think billionaire, a middle aged male comes to mind.  Sara Blakely was just named the youngest female billionairess ever and while you may not know her name, you probably know her product.  Spanx was the brainchild when Sarah realized that all women simply want to look better in their clothing.  What started off as her cutting the feet off of her pantyhose turned into a billion dollar business. 

What's truly ingenious is how she came up with the name.  Why are Spanx called Spanx? Thanks to her research on successful brand names ("Kodak" and "Coca-Cola" included), plus background in stand-up comedy, Sara knew that the "K" sound need to be prominent in her branding and she added the "x" to really make it fun.

Another interesting fact, she never spent a single dollar on advertising.  Thanks to Oprah and some high end retail stores, her product became a household name all on it's own. 

Do you wear spanx?

When it comes to designing the layout of your retail store, there's not much you you can do with the permanent structures.  That aside, there are countless arrangements you can make with the rest of the store.  Some arrangements of clothing, displays, railings, and drawers will influence not only how your store looks, but how much people spend.  For example, there is a reason there are always small, inexpensive trinkets surrounding the cash register.  These impulse buys are big money for many stores.  Other things you can do are:

1. Put new merchandise up front.  Customers want to buy whatever the newest, hottest item is.
2. Rearrange your merchandise fairly often.  This will keep repeat customers interested because even though they come often, it will be a different experience.
3. Try different merchandise groupings.  Put things together that you think people will like.  They may be in one section looking for something and really love what you put next to it so they buy both.
4. Make it simple for people to find what they're looking for.  If they want comfortable pajamas, maybe put some comfortable underwear, slippers, and sweats all near it.
5. Decorate your windows! Many times, people come to your store because of your window display so make sure it's enticing.

What else should you do?