A few years ago, my pre-teen wasn’t all that picky about what he wore. Then he got older and things changed. All of a sudden, we heard new words around the house, including store and brand names like Hollister, American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch, North Face and others. I’ve spent a lot of time in or near those stores so here’s the inside scoop, from both a parental and teen perspective, on which Indianapolis area teen clothing stores “rule” and why. They are listed in no particular order of preference:
First Hot Teen Clothing Store in Indianapolis: Abercrombie and Fitch
What the Indianapolis Abercrombie and Fitch Carries:
Think casual clothes as well as luxury clothes. My teen considers them upscale and notes that the employees in this store are always particularly good-looking. This may be a good marketing strategy for impressionable young teens. For guys, polos, jeans and hoodies seem to be particularly popular. Prices tend to be on the more expensive side. For spring, the hot items should be slightly altered versions of proven bestsellers, including a Catamount blue hoodie and supersoft shorts.
Keep in mind that a fair number of items are unisex.
Variety of Merchandise at the Indianapolis Abercrombie and Fitch teen store:
Relatively limited selection (t-shirts, polos, jackets, jeans and shorts) but in a variety of colors. Basically, you’ll find the same items in a wide range of shades and tones.
Size range: Small through XXL – for chest sizes, this would be 34-44, basically and 32-39 inches for sleeve length.
Atmosphere – From a parental perspective, the music can be deafening. What this means is that teens often shop without parents hovering nearby, although they may be just outside the store. The high music level doesn’t bother the teens a bit – from what I could see. In fact, they seemed to love it, moving to the beat as they shopped. The store itself is a bit dark but features photos of people wearing the clothing (many taken by Bruce Weber, a noted fashion photographer, who even photographed Cindy Crawford and other celebs, including some ads for Calvin Klein. He is best known for sexy photos, often shown in sepia tones in the stores.
Helpfulness of staff: Not great. They are in view but often busy. I think the store needs more employees. However, to be fair, I do think they hone in on their target age range of 12-17 year olds and ignore parents. They influence the teens to buy certain items, quite effectively.
Price for typical outfit – To get one top, pair of shorts and shoes, expect to pay around $150.00. You can see typical items and prices here: www.abercrombie.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category2_10051_10901_12202_-1_springbreak You can also plan complete outfits ahead of time, print out the pages and take them to the Indianapolis Abercrombie and Fitch store.
Location and Hours:
8702 Keystone Crossing
(317) 571-1634
Hours: Mon-Sat : 10 am – 9pm
Sunday: 12 pm – 6 pm
Website: www.abercrombie.com
Second Top Teen Clothing Store in Indianapolis: Hollister
What Hollister Carries: A little-known secret is that Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch are owned by the same company. That said, my teen’s take is that Abercrombie carries “slightly better” and “definitely more expensive” clothing. When I looked at the website for both stores, the differences were small to me. There was no arguing in the price difference, though. Hollister is less expensive, although not as much so as it used to be.
Why? Because Abercrombie and Fitch has dropped its prices somewhat. As far as selection goes, the two stores carry nearly identical merchandise, with basic jeans (mainly ripped or torn on purpose), shorts, polos, some skirts and dresses for teenage girls, accessories, etc.
Unsual feature: Many of the clothes are scented. When my son bought a jacket from Hollister, it came with a male fragrance. Smart marketing ploy or an attempt to make sure teen sweat doesn’t overpower the clean smell of the new clothing? I don’t know but it is definitely a unique feature! Also, male apparel is called “dude” clothing and that for females is called “Bettys” . This helps set the clothing apart from Abercrombie a bit more.
Variety of merchandise at the Indianapolis Hollister Teen store: Same as the Abercrombie and Fitch store but think more Southern California in both attitude and style. Typical looks are polos, often striped, torn jeans, sandals for spring and summer and checked shorts. While I’m not a huge fan of the “torn jean” look, I know it is extremely popular right now, as are low rise and boot cut jeans. Most items found online were available at the Indianapolis store
Look for the flying seagull logo or the letter H or HCO on many items.
Helpfulness of staff: Again, this varies, but we found employees to be scarce or chatting off in a corner. They were not all that familiar with their merchandise. Hollister tends to hire attractive employees who seem under-trained but to be fair…most of them seem to be working her only on break or vacations. Again, perhaps a parent isn’t going to get the attention of that target shopper.
Target age range of shoppers: Ages 14-18
Atmosphere: Very dark with extremely loud music. None of this dissuades young shoppers but could have parents running for the door. The perfume of the day is sprayed in the store frequently and the lighting is dim. Surfboards are on display on the back counter area. There is a huge video screen and it is a live webcam of a major surfing beach in California.
Important note: The dressing rooms have only a floor and mirror. Want to try on clothes? Consider yourself forewarned because you’ll have to put all clothing on the floor, both your own outfit and those you are considering. Depending on the cleanliness of that floor, this may not matter to you. It mattered to me, since we have winters here and those floors weren’t the driest or cleanest.
Typical outfit and price range: The outfits are basically the same look as Abercrombie but about $10 less per item. A polo that would cost $49.00 at Abercrombie could be bought for $34.00 at Hollister. The quality of the merchandise has always seemed similar to me but we do wash clothing carefully.
Location and hours of Indianapolis Hollister store:
Castleton Square Mall
6020 E. 82nd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46250
(317) 915-8231
Hours: Same as Abercrombie and Fitch (above)
Website: www.hollisterco.com
Check out the music at the website as it is often available for sale, a special feature.
Third Hot Teen Clothing Store in Indianapolis: American Eagle
What American Eagle Carries: Casual, fashion forward clothing. They aim to provide high-quality clothing to Indianapolis teens but at affordable prices. You’ll find basics here like jeans in all types of cuts from loose to slim as well as graphic tees, cool accessories, swimwear for both males and females, outerwear and accessories from jewelry to purses. You can even find shoes here!
Target age range: this store definitely has a broader niche that Abercrombie or Hollister, starting at 15 and going up to age 25. It isn’t unusual to see both teens and young college students in here.
Price range: Polos cost about $24.50 or go as low as $19.99 or even less on sale. Expect to drop $36.00 or so for shorts and $40.00 for low rise boot cut jeans.
Typical popular and hot teen outfit: graphic tees or Hoodies and track jackets with jeans or shorts. Accessories are popular with teen females.
Special features: The store periodically offers one year subscriptions to Teen Vogue for shoppers. This is “very cool” according to some young female teens we know. American Eagle also runs an AE Foundation which helps improve the quality of life for people in the Indianapolis and other communities where stores are located. Shop at American Eagle and your entire community could benefit – that is the general idea.
Atmosphere: Again, the typical loud music but this store seems to have truly helpful staff. They don’t veer away from talking to parents. The lighting is much brighter than at either A&F; or Hollister, something I definitely appreciated. My son didn’t care one way or the other.
Size range- typical teen size as well as a fair number made for larger or overly large teens.
Location and hours:
Hours: Mon – Fri – 10am to 9 pm
Sat – Sun – 11 am – 9 pm
317-845-8179
Website: www.ae.com/web/index.jsp
Fourth Indianapolis top spot for teen clothes: North Face brand at Dick’s Clothing store
This is a brand name that is popular with many teens in northside Indianapolis. You do have to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods to find the brand or get a fair selection.
Atmosphere at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Indianapolis:
Since people of all ages shop here, including sportsmen and women, this is a large store, noisy, but not aimed at just a teen age group. Think of a typical sporting goods store, one that is large, and you’ve got the idea. For some reason, the clothing here is popular with teens as long as it is the North Face brand.
Just be prepared to enter a typically huge store, one that isn’t just aimed at a teen market. There is a wealth of goods here, not all of it clothing.
Typical North Face clothing and price ranges: Here is where parental tastes and teen trends actually seem to find a nice meeting point. Many of the items are made to provide both warmth and style. Primarily best for winter and spring shopping seasons, this is an ideal brand for teens wanting to stay warm but still look “cool. From Vaporwick Tee shirts to Gradient Hoodies, you’ll find something to please both parents and teens. I feel good that my teen isn’t looking stylish but freezing cold and my teen feels like he passes the style factor test.
Price ranges? As steep as $300 for jackets (insulated). Tee shirts can run between $19.95 and $24.95. Once you get into those Polartec Fleece Hoodies, you are looking at prices in the $128 range. Swimsuit shorts cost about $24.95. For the money, I think the apparently steep prices on some items are offset by the extra warmth and quality of the material and construction of items.
Helpfulness of staff at the Indianapolis store: Even though this is a huge store, usually people are available. I was impressed by this. Huge store, yet the staff is easy to find. All to the good for Indianapolis shoppers.
Special features: A store where parents can find clothing for themselves as well. Also, the size range is generous, from small to large, even extra large, in teen and adult sizes.
Location:
Castleton Square Mall
6020 E. 82nd Street
Indianapolis In 46250
(317) 576-0300
Hours: Mon-Fri – 9 am – 9:30
Sat- Sun – 10 am – 7 pm
Call ahead for holiday hours
Fifth teen clothing store in Indianapolis: Aeropostale
Atmosphere at the Indianapolis Aeropostale store:
This is a hip and trendy store and there is a multi-ethnic air here with some broad appeal. Price ranges are very reasonable. While once aimed primarily at the male teen market, the stores now cater to teens in the 14-17 year old group. The store designs, markets, creates and sells all of its items, maintaining strong control over the brand.
The Indianapolis store is fairly large but smaller than American Eagle. We didn’t hear any loud music in the store, a plus for the parent accompanying one particular teen. I also loved the prices, in comparison to the $59.50 and up for ripped jeans at some competing stores. Yes, I’m working on my acceptance of torn jeans as a teen fashion statement. They seem to be everywhere!
Helpfulness of staff at Indianapolis store: They often ask if a teen needs help but the clothes are easy to find and there isn’t much help needed. Still, the assistance was appreciated. Most clothing is easy to find and separated by style and season.
Typical clothing and price ranges:
Most tees, whether solid colored or with patterns on them, have the word Aeropostale on them. They sell for $20 for two of them, very reasonable for teen clothing at select stores. Shorts run between $24 and $29 each. Jeans are a very reasonable $19 to $29. For teen jeans, this is a bargain indeed. Young women can choose polos for as little as $9.99 and dresses for $19.99. Again, a bargain!
Target age range: As noted above, ages 14-17 and this was the age of the shoppers we saw on a crowded Saturday. Parents tended to hang back or wait outside the store, within reason.
Special feature or popular item: Sueded athletic graphic tees.
Location:
Castleton Square
6020 E. 82nd Street
indianapolis, IN 46250
(317) 841-2800
Hours: Mon – Fri – 10 – 9
Sat – Sun – 10-9 on Saturday
11 -6 and Sunday
Website: www.aeropostale.com
