American Apparel Is Coming Back With First Retail Store Since Bankruptcy
The Canadian company that resuscitated American Apparel from bankruptcy is planning to open a flagship store in Los Angeles later this year.
Montreal-based Gildan Activewear Inc. said the new brick-and-mortar store would be in the same place as the previous American Apparel storefront, along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, the LA Times reports.
Gildan CEO Glenn Chamandy told the Times the new storefront will complement its online sales presence and be a test model store where the company could gauge upcoming fashion trends and possibly expand in the future.
“We either could franchise, we could open a couple more, we haven't decided yet,” Chamandy said.
Gildan is a clothing apparel manufacturer that owns several brands, including Gildan, Comfort Colors, Peds and Anvil.
The company purchased the struggling American Apparel retailer and some of its assets for $88M cash in January 2017.
Headquartered in Los Angeles and founded in 1997, American Apparel was once a trendy, up-and-coming fashion brand. The company operated more than 200 retail stores in 19 countries. In 2014, American Apparel had generated more than $600M in net sales, according to reports.
But the company faced several issues from labor practices, controversial ads and sexual harassment lawsuits against the founder. In 2016, American Apparel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and subsequently closed all of its stores.
