After church, he and his wife and four young children -- ages 10 months to 7 years -- pick up his brother at a group home in Raleigh and head to Triangle Town Center to eat some lunch and wander around.

But on a recent Sunday, Stopper was brought up short when his tribe happened past the entrance to Abercrombie & Fitch.

The display windows of the store were empty. In fact, they were deliberately darkened and shuttered to provide a more dramatic contrast with a 10 foot by 10 foot photograph of a male model's chest and barely covered groin.

The model's jeans were slung so low there had to be a razor, Nair or some serious airbrushing at work on the exposed flesh.

At first, Stopper said he was dumbstruck by the image.

But he didn't stay quiet long.

He sent his wife, children and brother up the mall corridor to an indoor playground and started registering his complaints.

He spoke to the manager of the store, who has absolutely no say in the displays.

He asked a security guard what would happen if he showed up at the mall dressed as the model was.

"The guard said, 'I'd arrest you on the spot,' " Stopper recounted.

Later, Stopper called mall management and the corporate offices of Abercrombie & Fitch. I did, too.

Jack Love, manager of Triangle Town Center, said he passed along Stopper's concerns to Abercrombie & Fitch.

"That's about all we can do," he said. "It's their picture and their space."

Abercrombie & Fitch did not return my calls but defended the photo as perfectly legal to Stopper. This is a chain that specializes in skirting that edge.

Remember, this is the retailer that used suggestions of group sex and masturbation in its Christmas catalog.

And why change? Despite a shaky economy, the retailer's sales increased 6 percent last month, according to a news release.

Still, Stopper is determined.

He doesn't expect the store to remove the photo entirely -- just move it inside. If not, he plans to coordinate a picket of the mall on the first weekend of August -- the state's annual back-to-school, tax-free weekend.

I know, I know, by picketing, Stopper only creates more public interest in the store. And there's nothing like the prospect of shocking uptight parents to increase allure among young adult shoppers.

Stopper gets that.

But at some point, Stopper said, you can't ignore what is, ahem, hanging there right in front of you.

Sometimes you just have to take a stand.

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