Bankrupted American Apparel sees growth outside of America

From 100 to 200 non-US stores

CEO Paula Schneider insists the company has a beautiful future, something she already mentioned in October when the company was declared bankrupt. Talking to the Financial Times, the CEO goes a step further: while its onerous stores keep shutting down in the United States, she dreams of international expansion.

She states the brand is still popular in South Korea and the Middle East, which is why Schneider wants to increase its number of non-US stores to some 200 stores. American Apparel currently has 200 stores of its own, about half in the US.

The CEO does not have a lot of time, because the preliminary quarterly results revealed on Tuesday shows its turnover dropped nearly 20 %: from 155.9 million dollars last year to 126 million dollars (117.5 million euro) now, a 19.1 % decrease.