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American Apparel to Wind Down UK Clothing Stores After the Holidays
After Christmas, 13 American Apparel stores will be closed in Great Britain.
Now that the company is up for sale, it looks like the British stores will not be part of the sale and instead will be closed.
Accounting firm KMPG was appointed on Nov. 8 as administrator of the U.K. stores with the task to shut down the 13 American Apparel outposts after Christmas. In charge of the shutdown are Jim Tucker and Richard Beard, according to a KMPG press release.
“The American Apparel group has been experiencing strong retail headwinds, which has culminated in the U.S. parent deciding to stop inventory shipments to the U.K. The U.K. business has experienced similar trading difficulties, resulting in the appointment of administrators,” said Tucker, a KMPG restructuring partner, in a statement. “The 13 U.K. stores are well stocked and will continue to trade as usual in the lead up to the peak Christmas trading period. Whilst the U.K. business is not part of the U.S. sale, a number of the U.K. stores are in prime high-street locations, and we will also aim to sell individual stores following the Christmas peak trading season.”
There are eight stores in London and one each in Brighton, Nottingham, Bristol and Leeds as well as Glasgow, Scotland.
American Apparel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and emerged from bankruptcy early this year. Several months later, American Apparel executives decided to try to sell the company, which employs thousands of garment workers at the largest clothing factory in the United States.
