Aéropostale, Inc., usually referred to as Aéropostale
or Aéro, is an American
clothing retailer that sells casual
clothing with over 900 stores in the
United States, Canada, the Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. Their
stores tend to be located in
shopping malls and large marketing
areas. Aéropostale sells fashion apparel including shirts,
jeans, bras and thongs, accessories, jackets, sweaters, and bathing
suits. Their clothing is targeted at 14–17 year olds and typically
sold at prices under $50. Aéropostale formerly also had a
surf clothing brand called Jimmy'Z that was a 14 store chain launched
in 2005 and ended operations in early 2009. Building on the success
of the Aéropostale teen brand, the company is planning to
launch a new kids apparel chain called P.S. from Aéropostale
in 2009.
History
The first Aéropostale store was opened in
1987 in
New York City.
The Aéropostale name is French for "air
mail" and originated from the 1920s French/latin-American
airmail firm, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.
The company was created and owned by Federated Department
Stores. It was sold off in 1998 to MSS Delaware
Inc, a private investment group which later took
the company public.
Aéropostale launched its
e-commerce
webstore in early
2005. Total net sales from the webstore for
fiscal 2008 was $79.1 million.
International expansion
In the summer of 2006, it was announced that Aéropostale
would enter the Canadian market. On August 3, 2007,
the first Canadian Aéropostale store opened
in White Oaks Mall in London, Ontario.
In September 2006, Aeropostle opened its first store
in the Dominican Republic, located in Acropolis
Plaza in Santo Domingo. In May 2008, Aéropostale
opened its first store in Puerto Rico at Plaza Carolina.
The weeks following Aéropostale opened two
more stores located in Plaza Las Américas
and in Prime Outlets-Puerto Rico. The company plans
to open 12 to 14 more stores in Puerto Rico by 2010.
As of April 2009, Aéropostale also has an
operating store located in the Jockey Plaza shopping
center in Lima, Peru.
In March 2009, Aéropostale expanded its operations
to the Middle East, opening its first store in Dubai.
The company plans to open over 20 stores in the
region over the next few years, including stores
in theUAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.
Subsidiaries
Aéropostale had a surf clothing brand called
Jimmy'Z, which launched in 2005. In early 2009,
Aéropostale closed its 14-store Jimmy'Z chain.
The Jimmy'Z stores were based originally on a surf
lifestyle and later evolved into Hollywood and celebrity-inspired
lines. The Jimmy'Z stores, located in New York City,
Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, and Texas were
designed to look like nightclubs with music, video,
and lounge areas to enhance the ambiance of the
stores.To leverage the strength of the Aéropostale
teen and adult brand, the company plans to focus
its energies on its namesake chain and a new chain
called 'P.S. from Aéropostale' geared at
young children. P.S. from Aéropostale will
offer apparel at value prices to the 7–12 age market.
The company plans to open the first P.S. stores
in June 2009 and approximately nine more P.S. stores
in fiscal 2009.
Corporate
affairs
Competition
Aéropostale's mainly competes
with other young fashion companies,
including:
American Eagle
Outfitters,
Hollister
Co. and
Abercrombie &
Fitch, all of which generate
more in net sales than Aéropostale.
In 2007, Aéropostale generated
$1.59 billion in net sales, while
its larger competitors, American
Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch,
reported sales of $3.7 billion and
$3 billion, respectively.
Promotions
In 2007, the company
began doingpromotions
with successful
figures to increase
brand awareness.
The first promotion
was selling the
Fall Out Boy album,
Infinity on High,
with a store-exclusive
T-shirt. Other offers
include a free beach
towel with every
fifty dollar purchase,
and a free holiday
bear with a purchase
of over one hundred
dollars, each promotion
in its respective
season. These holiday
bears are also donated
by Aéropostale
stores to local
charities in their
respective communities.
In 2008, Aéropostale
along with not-for-profit
youth organization
Do Something launched
Teens for Jeans,
a campaign to raise
awareness of teen
homelessness. Stores
would collect lightly
used jeans and donate
them to local charities.
In return, donators
received a 20% (2008)
or 25% (2009) discount
on a new pair of
Aéropostale
jeans. In 2008,
the campaign raised
over 125,000 pairs
of jeans. In 2008
and 2009, Aéropostale
donated 10,000 pairs
of new jeans to
the campaign. Also
they promoted the
show Greek
Season 1 DVD with
a free T-shirt with
a $50 purchase.
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