Thu Apr 01 16:03:00 -0400 2010

The Huffington Post (New York)

- American Apparel’s sales were down 10 percent last year and the brand is forecasting another ten percent decrease for the first quarter of this year, WWD reports. This, combined with stopping overseas expansion and in-store investments, and production problems, has put the retailer in a sticky spot.

American Apparel has 282 stores, half in the U.S. and half in other countries and in the last year-and-a-half, it opened about 60 of those stores. Mimi Bartow, a director at Telsey Advisory Group said American Apparel’s “real estate strategy was not as disciplined as it should have been, but their newest stores are doing well and I think that speaks to a new discipline in making sure the locations are right, that they make economic sense and that the demographics can support the new stores.”

To view the full article, download the PDF here: The Huffington Post, April 1, 2010