(RTTNews) – Apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF: News ) said Thursday that its same-store sales fell 28% in July, as consumers continued to reign in spending amid the recession.

Net sales for the four-week period ended August 1, 2009 fell 22% to $236.0 million from $303.1 million for the four-week period ended August 2, 2008.

Total company direct-to-consumer net sales for the month decreased 11% to $16.2 million....

Trendy retailer Abercrombie and Fitch Co. (ANF: ) has been the focus of heavy put trading recently, as options players increase their pessimistic bets toward the firm.

During the past 10 trading sessions, 30,031 puts have been bought to open, while just 2,973 calls have been bought to open on the International Securities Exchange (ISE). In other words, 10 puts have been purchased to open on the ISE for every one call purchased to open. This ratio of puts to calls is higher than 97% of all those taken during the past year, indicating that pessimism is on the rise toward the security. In fact, the Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio for ANF stands at 1.67, as put open interest easily outnumbers call open interest among options slated to expire in less than three months. This ratio is higher than 81% of all those taken during the past year. In other words, short-term options speculators have been more skeptical of the shares only 19% of the time during the past 12 months. Options players aren’t the only ones with their doubts about the retailer. Short sellers have flocked to this stock. More than 15 million ANF shares have been sold short, accounting for more than 18% of the company’s total float. What’s more, this accumulation of bearish bets is more than four times the stock’s average daily trading volume. Should the bears continue to add to their winning positions, the stock could succumb to increased selling pressure. Wall Street is also giving the security the cold shoulder....

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Tees emblazoned with phrases deemed offensive to women have been yanked from Abercrombie and Fitch clothing stores thanks to a group of teen girls who launched a nationwide "girlcott."

Bowing to pressure from the public and supporters of the Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers (the group of nearly two dozen girls who spearheaded the protest), the retailer announced Friday that it is pulling two shirts off the market: one with the slogan "Gentlemen Prefer Tig Old Bitties" and a second reading, "With These, Who Needs Brains?" across the chest.
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