Nearly all UK stores of US-based clothing brand American Apparel have shut down. American Apparel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in October 2015. The teen retailer, founded in 1989, made its clothes in Los Angeles and was known for its sexually charged advertising. The hoped-for turnaround of the clothing manufacturer and retail chain—which has long grappled with shrinking sales and an outsize store footprint—did not happen. Plans to improve online selling didn't pay off, and, at a time when shoppers are going online in greater and greater numbers, American Apparel watched its online sales fall.
American Apparel has 110 stores in the US and 83 others around the world including UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Canada, Japan and Australia. Canadian manufacturer Gildan Activewear has agreed to buy the brand’s worldwide intellectual property rights. The Canadian clothing company is more interested in buying some of American Apparel’s manufacturing plants in the US. But most production will probably move to Gildan’s manufacturing hubs in Central America and the Caribbean where it’s much lower cost than anywhere in the US.
At least eight US teen retailers have filed for bankruptcy in the past two years as the spending habits of young people shift and they visit malls less often.
