Aeropostale Bankruptcy
This past Wednesday, perennial teen fashion retailer, Aeropostale filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Challenged by more diverse and cheaper fast-fashion competitors such as H&M and Forever 21, Aeropostale has struggled to redefine itself for the 21st century. Indeed, its most recent attempt to remake itself as “fashion brand” failed completely as many consumers cannot divorce their name from their 1990s-fueled image of a cheap, mall-based retailer.
In an attempt to cut costs and extend operations for the short term, Aeropostale has decided to close a total of 113 of its flagship retail stores in the United States along with all of its 41 locations in Canada and all of its 25 P.S. from Aeropostale stores. This move and the subsequent liquidation of these stores’ merchandise is projected to earn the company about $21 million, enough to keep the remainder of its stores operating for 6-8 weeks while it pursues a sale.
In its filing, the company reported that most of the stores in question were revenue losers and the remainder were showing negative sales trends. The plan is to begin liquidation sales in U.S. stores as early as today (May 7th) with sales in Canada expected to start Sunday (May 9th). Stores will close in a total of 37 states including the one in New York’s Times Square.
Check out the complete list of closures, provided by U.S.A Today, here.