American Apparel to close all U.S. stores and lay off 3,400 employees
The struggling retail chain was recently purchased by Gildan Activewear, but its locations will shutter its doors.
The company that suffered through the dismissal of its founder and chief executive, struggling sales, two bankruptcies and Gildan Activewear’s $103 million takeover will be shutting its doors in the United States.
The company’s 110 stores, along with its Los Angeles headquarters, will close by April, and 3,400 people are expected to lose their jobs.
Gildan spokesman Garry Bell said his company never intended to keep open any of American Apparel’s stores. “The reality is this wasn’t a purchase of an ongoing concern,” he told The New York Times.
Gildan’s intent was to acquire the brand’s intellectual property and some of the manufacturing equipment. American Apparel filed for bankruptcy twice in two years, most recently in November 2016.
Reactions on Twitter were decidedly mixed as people found out that their local chain would close:
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I’m glad American Apparel is closing. I remember when employees and models of American Apparel came forward with sexual harassment lawsuits.
— NANA JIBRIL ð (@girlswithtoys) January 14, 2017
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