US Brand Hollister To Open Store in Australia (Photo : Facebook/Hollister)

American fashion label Hollister has confirmed news of opening its first-ever store in Australia sometime soon this year.

Hip American fashion brand Hollister, which is part of Abercrombie & Fitch has confirmed the news of expansion of stores to Australia. Hollister is the latest addition of international brands to make its way into Australia. Mike Jeffries, chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch, revealed the plans for the first Hollister stores in Australia and the Middle East during the annual earnings conference call for the retail giant. "We are focused on underpenetrated markets where we expect minimal cannibalization," he said.

Overall, Jeffries said Abercrombie & Fitch's results were "disappointing" and cited "cannibalization" as a key concern where Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store, standard stores and Hollister stores cannibalize each other's sales.

Jeffries describes Australia as an untapped market and is confident that the brand will do well there, considering Abercrombie & Fitch have never had a store in this part of the world.

"We are confident that the return from investment on our international rollout to date has been superior to any other allocation of capital over that period," Jeffries said.

Hollister now has 28 stores in the UK, 12 in Canada and 17 in Germany with plans to open 20 more international stores in 2013. The stores that opening this year are expected to contribute $200 million in sales growth. The brand has a yearly sale of $485.6 million and offers cheaper and more youth orientated fashion than Abercrombie & Fitch.

Apart from Hollister, other international brands to have shown interest in expanding their business to Australia include Japanese store Uniqlo. The label plans to open stores in Australia soon, along with other leading brands including Banana Republic, H&M, Sephora, J Crew, Forever 21 and Victoria's Secret. Leading Spanish retailer Zara has already opened as many as four stores in Australia over the last year. Topshop has already opened a store there and the latest news is that they are looking for a location to open their second store in Australia.

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