American Apparel's 4th-Quarter Net Sales Up 8.6 Percent
American Apparel's store on Los Angeles' Melrose Avenue
On March 25, basics manufacturer and retailer American Apparel Inc. reported good business for its 2009 fourth quarter.
Net sales for the Los Angeles-based company were reported to be $158.1 million. It was an 8.6 percent increase over the net sales of $145.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company’s wholesale operation also continued to hum along. Total wholesale net sales increased 6.1 percent to $38.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with $36.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.
American Apparel’s total retail net sales increased 10.4 percent to $108.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with $98.0 million for the same period in 2008. However, comparable-store sales declined 7 percent during the 2009 fourth quarter.
The company forecast a 10 percent decline in same-store sales for the first quarter of 2010. However, American Apparel Chief Executive Dov Charney predicted his company would make up for any declines in the past year. “Our main goals are to enhance the productivity of our existing base of retail stores, re-establish our level of manufacturing efficiency at our production facilities and to continue to broaden our management team to implement best practices throughout our organization,” Charney said in a prepared statement.
