Anyone over 30 listening in on the Abercrombie & Fitch third quarter earnings call on Tuesday may have felt a little, well, old.
    “I don’t think it’s in our DNA to really do business with mature people,” Chief Executive Mike Jeffries told analysts.
    The retailer, which sells trendy casual apparel at its main chain of stores to a target 20-year-old shopper, posted a 43 percent rise in quarterly net income, helped by a 22 percent rise in sales.
    A focus on youth — and billboard advertising featuring very well-toned, very young and very unclothed bodies — has helped the retailer stay one of the hottest apparel brands in the mall.
    Besides its Abercrombie & Fitch stores, the company also operates the abercrombie chain of stores, with a target shopper age of 12, and the surf-inspired Hollister chain, geared to 16-year-olds.
    The oldest folk Abercrombie has to deal with are its Ruehl customers at 30.
    Jeffries — who noted during the call that his customers view sweaters as “an old man business” but added that he himself was wearing one — graciously noted that “a 30-year-old is not very old in America today.” 
    Gee….thanks Mike.