Comparable sales dip 6% at American Apparel in Dec

On a preliminary basis, total net sales were $60.5 million, a decrease of 6% over the prior year. Comparable sales decreased 6%, including a 7% decrease in comparable store sales in the retail store channel and a 1% decrease in net sales in the online channel.

Wholesale net sales decreased 2% for the month. For the year ended December 31, 2013, total net sales increased 3% to $633.9 million, with a 3% increase in comparable sales and a 4% increase in wholesale net sales.

Dov Charney, Chairman and CEO, commented, "Some of the causes of our reduced comp store sales in the month of December include:

(1) the fact that we were up against a positive 15% comp from last year; (2) a compressed shopping season, the result of Thanksgiving falling later than it has in a decade; (3) under-buying of some of our strongest selling items for the season because our management team was intensely distracted during the implementation of our new distribution center (which is now successfully completed); (4) December 2013 had one less Saturday than 2012 and unlike most other retailers we use the actual calendar in reporting comparable store sales, as opposed to the retail reporting calendar.

It is also noteworthy that our sales improved towards the end of the month (the last week of the month comparable store sales were only down 1.7%), as opposed to the beginning of the month when we felt our consumer was 'shopped out' as a result of Black Friday. Although December was disappointing, and we could face a challenging environment for the remainder of the winter, our management team is energized and we are excited about our prospects for Spring and Summer 2014 as well as for the calendar year as a whole."

About American Apparel

American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel based in downtown Los Angeles, California. As of January 1, 2014, American Apparel had approximately 10,000 employees and operated 248 retail stores in 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China.

American Apparel