Abercrombie & Fitch is coming to downtown Naperville, city and business officials say.
The fashion retailer will be taking over space at 103 S. Washington St. formerly occupied by Ulta Beauty, which closed earlier this year.
Abercrombie will open in 2025, according to a joint news release from the city of Naperville, Naperville Development Partnership and Downtown Naperville Alliance.
“Abercrombie & Fitch’s classic All-American style is a perfect complement to its surrounding stores — Athleta, Aerie and Offline by Aerie,” Downtown Naperville Alliance Executive Director Katie Wood said in the release.
The store is set to open at the beginning of the new year, Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s corporate communications office confirmed. It will be taking over the entire 5,500-square-foot space formerly occupied by Ulta, Wood added in an email Tuesday.
As of the end of 2022, Abercrombie boasted a global presence of more than 750 stores across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, according to its website. The company was originally founded in 1892 as an outdoor specialty retailer.
In the Chicago area, Abercrombie today has six locations, the closest to Naperville being in Aurora’s Chicago Premium Outlets mall.
Abercrombie is one of several new businesses that is soon or already descending on Naperville’s downtown.
New arrivals include retailers Everything But Water, Kendra Scott and The Gallery; eateries Ichiddo Ramen, Lotus Banh Mi and Insomnia Cookies; and banking/financial institutions Wells Fargo and Fidelity Investments.
Other business developments on tap for the city’s downtown include a new Italian and Indian fusion restaurant TemptInn — which will be opening at 220 S. Washington St. in early November — and expanded event space accommodating up to 100 people at Tapville Social just a few doors down at 216 S. Washington.
Pronto Italian Sandwiches is also “opening soon” at 221 S. Washington St., where BD’s Mongolian Grill formerly stood, according to the Downtown Naperville Alliance. The sandwich shop will be taking over a portion of the space in which BD’s used to operate, Wood said. A tenant for the remaining space has not yet been finalized, she said.
The string of openings and additions are the latest changes in what’s been a busy year for Naperville’s downtown.
BD’s Mongolian Grill left Washington Street in January after nearly three decades of operating downtown. Barnes & Noble closed its location at 47 E. Chicago Ave. the same month.
Then came Ulta Beauty in March, which ceased operating at 103 S. Washington St. because of an expired lease. A few months later, Firecakes Donuts left its location at 50 S. Main St. after a three-year stint downtown.
All the while, the area has been a maze of construction and road closures as the ongoing replacement of Washington Street Bridge persists and the city worked through several streetscape projects.
City and business officials in their release this week pointed to the reconstruction and streetscape projects as a selling point for and boon to new business.
“Illinois’ second-largest retail economy continues to attract a variety of businesses to all four corners of Naperville,” Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said in the release. “Part of the draw to our downtown is the reinvestment we, as a city, make in our infrastructure. We rely on the strength of our roads, bridges and utilities to drive long-term viability and security.”
