American Apparel worldwide

The penetration of American Apparel of the world market was one of the fastest in the history of the American economy. 

American Apparel employs more than 10,000 employees worldwide, whose salaries are among the highest wages of factory workers in Europe. 

The international segment consists of the retail, wholesale and online consumer operations outside

of the US, and Canada. 

The retail operations of segment comprises 76 retail stores in 18 countries, including 

• Europe
• UK
•  Ireland
• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• Sweden,
• Switzerland
• Israel
• Asia
• China
• South Korea
• Japan

As well as Australia, Mexico and Brazil.

American Apparel is also a great example of a brand that has moved aggressively overseas while still exploiting  growth opportunities of the domestic market. 

Rapid expansion began in 2004 when company first entered Canada and Europe.

In 2005 American Apparel entered Asia and in 2006 expanded into six new countries last year, including China, Brazil, and Austria.

American Apparel   owns and operates each of its retail locations as opposed to franchising. According to the management, the vertically integrated model allows the company to design, cut, distribute and sell an item globally within couple of weeks.

The main reason of the company to open stores overseas directly without franchising partnerships is to gain the full control over operasions and  to monitor the fickle fashion market and respond quickly to new trends.

American Apparel operates its retail and wholesale business through the following direct and indirect foreign subsidiaries: American Apparel Canada Wholesale Inc., American Apparel Canada Retail Inc., Fresh Air Freight, Inc., American Apparel Deutschland GmbH, American Apparel Spain, S.L., American Apparel Italia SRL, American Apparel (UK) Ltd., American Apparel (Carnaby) Limited, American Apparel Mexico SdeRLde CV, American Apparel Mexico Labor, SdeRLde CV, American Apparel Japan Yugen Kaisha, American Apparel Korea Co., Ltd., American Apparel Australia Pty, Ltd., and American Apparel Retail (Israel), Ltd.

Expanding  business internationally is an important part of American Apparel's overall growth strategy.

As company expands internationally, it tries to effectively and efficiently open and operate stores in international locations. 

As it is oficially stated, International growth is limited unless company can:

• identify and obtain suitable markets and sites for store locations;
• negotiate acceptable lease terms;
• complete store design and remodeling projects on time and on budget;
• hire, train and retain competent store personnel;
• gain acceptance from foreign customers;
• manage inventory effectively to meet the needs of new and existing stores on a timely basis;
• manage and expand infrastructure to accommodate growth;
• generate sufficient operating cash flows or secure adequate capital on commercially reasonable terms to fund our expansion plan;
• manage foreign exchange risks effectively;
• address existing and changing legal, regulatory and political environments in target foreign markets; 
• manage international growth, if any, in a manner that does not unduly strain  financial, operating and management resources of the company.

Furthermore, American Apparels carefully choosses markets to entry and take into  account consideration legal, regulatory, political and economic risks of the host market. 

American Apparel also runs actively e-commerce for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, and Australia.

http://store.americanapparel.net/