(Filed Under wholesale Lingerie News). American Eagle Outfitters Inc. announced it will close “25 to 30” of its aerie intimates stores in 2014, this coming after it already closed 29 in its 2013 fiscal year. The closings come as the firm as a whole reported sharply lower earnings for the year ended February 1, 2014.
For fiscal 2013, American Eagle earned $82,983,000 on sales of
$3,305,802,000 compared to earnings of $264,098,000 on sales of $3,475,802,000 for the year ended February 2, 2013.
The number of Aerie stores peaked at the beginning of 2012 when there were a total of 158. That year it closed seven dropping the total to 151 by the start of 2013. At the beginning of this year there were 122 aerie stores open, but there could be as few as 92 by early 2015.
Despite the closings, the company has not given up on aerie. In a conference call earlier this month, discussing American Eagle’s fourth quarter results, vice chairman Roger Markfield noted that while “we continue to right size the brand closing poor performing stores...Aerie delivered particular strength online and is getting great traction in global markets. Factory stores performed well in 2013 and we remain excited about this opportunity and the made for factory product assortment.” A full transcript of the call is available here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2081633-american-eagle-outfitters-ceo-discusses-q4-2013-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=1
In its annual report, the company noted that in 2013 aerie brand sales “decreased 2%” compared to fiscal 2012. Overall, aerie made up only 8% of overall sales in fiscal 2013 but 9% in fiscal 2012.
In January, in an effort to improve results with its target consumer, described in its annual report as “the AEO girl” (presumable aged approximately 15 to 21, or perhaps younger as evidenced by the brand’s frequent use of the word “girls” in its marketing materials), aerie launched a new “aerie Real” marketing campaign. That “means NO MORE RETOUCHING OUR GIRLS AND NO MORE SUPERMODELS,” according to a note on the brand’s website.
Previously aerie had used notably glamorous models in photos that showed many fewer wrinkles of body and fabric. The note on the website now declares, “Dear Aerie Girls, we think it’s time for a change. We think it’s time to GET REAL and THINK REAL. We want every girl to feel good about who they are and what they look like, inside and out.”
Today shoppers arriving on the aerie.com website are greeted with a photograph (see above) seemingly selected because it demonstrates the greatest number of belly folds and face wrinkles that can possibly be achieved by a teenage girl in a single pose.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in comments published on bodymagazine.us are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of Bodymagazine or its staff.
NOTE: Your Email will not be displayed.