The past few years have been challenging for a number of apparel retailers targeting the same teen demographic that Abercrombie, originally founded in 1892, did well with earlier in the decade. Aeropostale, Wet Seal and BCBG Max Azria Group all have filed for bankruptcy over the past two years.

NEW ALBANY, OH–Shares of apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. were up Wednesday following a report in Reuters that the company was weighing offers to be acquired. A spokesman for Abercrombie tells GlobeSt.com the company has no comment.

Citing unnamed sources, Reuters said Abercormbie had retained investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners to advise on takeover bids from other merchants. There's no guarantee that any deal will take place, the sources added. The retailer made similar headlines in 2014 when Bloomberg Business reported that private equity firms were interested in a takeout following the departure of longtime CEO Mike Jeffries.

Marketwatch said Wednesday that Abercrombie has reported same-store sales declines for the past four quarters, and for at least 19 of the past 20 quarters. In its most recent quarterly report, for the fourth quarter of 2016, Abercrombie said sales were down 13% year over year for its Abercrombie brand and 2% for Hollister. The retailer will announce Q1 results on May 25.

During '16, the company closed 54 stores, and announced earlier this year that it would let the leases on 60 US locations expire. Nonetheless, Abercrombie plans to open six full-price stores this year, with four in the US and two overseas.

The past few years have been challenging for a number of apparel retailers targeting the same teen demographic that Abercrombie, originally founded in 1892, did well with earlier in the decade. Aeropostale, Wet Seal and BCBG Max Azria Group all have filed for bankruptcy over the past two years.