American Apparel Pulls Back on Los Angeles Store Plans — for Now

LOS ANGELES — American Apparel has tabled plans to reenter retail via a Los Angeles store as it focuses on continuing the momentum within other areas of its business. The company continues to still have a leasehold on the Melrose Avenue location where it intended to open the store. “We’ve been really focused on solidifying the brand’s e-commerce B2C web site and platform, expanding its reach to over 220 countries around the world,” said Garry Bell, vice president of corporate marketing and communications at American Apparel parent Gildan Activewear Inc. “These initiatives allowed us to substantially increase sales online year-over-year and we look forward to keep[ing] the momentum going.” Bell went on to say growing the company’s imprintables business in England, Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand is also an area of focus. The store isn’t off the table and “as we continue to assess other opportunities, we will reviews the plans for the store,” Bell said. Gildan’s acquisition of the American Apparel business, which filed for bankruptcy twice in less than two years’ time, included the company’s intellectual property and some inventory. The chain of stores were left off the negotiating table, largely seen as a drain on the business at the time.

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