Abercrombie creates six senior roles to revive sales

Struggling teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co said it created six senior positions as it looks to turn around its Abercrombie & Fitch and abercrombie kids brands.

The company, which also owns the Hollister casual clothing brand, has been hurt by intense competition from "fast-fashion" retailers such as Forever 21, Inditex's Zara and H&M.

Abercrombie said on Tuesday it had hired designers Aaron Levine from Ralph Lauren Corp and Kristina Szasz from PVH Corp to head design at its A&F men's and women's units, respectively.

Levine, who joined Abercrombie in July, headed men's design at Ralph Lauren's Club Monaco chain. Szasz, who will join in September, served as design director for denim at PVH's Karl Lagerfeld and Tommy Hilfiger brands in Europe.

The appointments, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, come after nine quarters of falling sales for Abercrombie as young customers lose interest in its logo-centric apparel.

The retailer is yet to find a permanent replacement for Michael Jeffries, who stepped down as CEO in December.

The company also hired Kurt Hoffman from Club Monaco, Monica Margerum from Kohl's Corp and Amy Sveda from Carter's. Abercrombie appointed Stacie Beaver, who has been with the company for over 15 years in various senior roles, to the newly-created position of general manager for A&F womens.

The company's shares were down slightly at $19.10 in early trading on Tuesday. Up to Monday's close, the stock had fallen 33 percent this year.