Abercrombie & Fitch Co., the venerable Columbus, Ohio-based retailer of mens and womens casual clothing, says it is considering opening a store in the Spokane area.


Lonnie Fogel, a Columbus-based spokesman for the company, says Abercrombie & Fitch plans to send a representative to Spokane in the next week or two to look for possible store locations.


As far as I know, we dont have a deal yet, but I know we are interested in the area, he says.


A typical Abercrombie & Fitch store occupies between 8,000 and 9,000 square feet of leased floor space and employs as many as 50 part-time employees. Fogel says the company usually hires college-aged people to work in its stores.


Abercrombie & Fitch, which had been operated as a subsidiary of Columbus-based The Limited Inc. until it was spun off in May, operates about 170 stores across the U.S., including five in the Seattle area. The company, which now is independently owned, targets its merchandise toward college-aged consumers and competes with retailers such as Eddie Bauer Inc. and Gap Inc.