Aéropostale (company)
 | |
| Company type | Public NYSE: ARO |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1986 (fiscal 1987) |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | over 900 (as of April 2009)[1] |
Area served | United States Canada Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Peru United Arab Emirates |
Key people | Julian R. Geiger ( Chairman ) |
| Products | Apparel and accessories |
| Revenue |  US$1.89 Billion (FY 2009)[2] |
| US$249 Million (FY 2009)[2] | |
| US$149 Million (FY 2009)[2] | |
| Total assets | US$658 Million (FY 2009) [3] |
| Total equity | US$355 Million (FY 2009)[3] |
Number of employees | 10756 (as of November 2008)[4] |
| Website | www.aeropostale.com |
Aéropostale, Inc. (Template:Pron-en, Template:USdict[5]), 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, Puerto Rico and the United Arab Emirates.[1] Their stores tend to be located in shopping malls and large marketing areas. Aéropostale sells fashion apparel including outerwear, swimwear, tank tops, shirts, jeans, and underwear, accessories, fleece. Building on the success of the Aéropostale teen brand the company has now launched a new brand, P.S. from Aéropostale, that sells quality clothing for children.
History
The first Aéropostale store was opened in New York City, New York by R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. in 1987.[4][6] The Aéropostale name is French for "air mail" and originated .from the 1920s French/Latin-American airmail firm Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.[4]
Federated Department Stores purchased R.H. Macy & Co., Inc., Aéropostale parent company, in 1994.[6] In 1998, MSS Delaware Inc. and Bear Stearns purchased Aéropostale and its 119 stores for approximately $15 million.[6] Aéropostale went public in 2002.[6]
Aéropostale launched its e-commerce webstore in early 2005.[7] Total net sales from the webstore for the fiscal year of 2008 was $79.1 million.[8]
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 May 2008, Aéropostale opened its first store in Puerto Rico at Plaza Carolina. The following weeks, 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 the end of 2010.[9] [10]
In March 2009, Aéropostale expanded its operations to the Middle East, opening its first store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[11] The company plans to open over 20 stores in the region over the next few years, including stores in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and another store in the United Arab Emirates.[11]
Subsidiaries
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 children. P.S. from Aéropostale offers apparel at value prices to the 7–12 age market.
The company also owned a secondary brand called Jimmy'Z that focused on surf and skater clothing. The 15 store's were branded as more upscale with higher price points than its parent. The brand was discontinued in January 2009 and replaced by P.S. from Aeropostale.
Corporate affairs
Competition
Aéropostale's mainly competes with other young fashion companies, including American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch and its subsidiary retailer Hollister Co., and Old Navy. In 2008, Aéropostale generated $1.59 billion in net sales, while its demographic-specific competitors, American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister reported sales of $3.7 billion, $3 billion and $3.1 billion respectively. Old Navy reported sales of $3.5 billon within the same time period. Aéropostale's younger brand, P.S. from Aéropostale, competes with brands such as A&F's younger subsidiary abercrombie.
Promotions
In 2007, the company began doing promotions 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 $50 purchase and a free holiday bear with a purchase of over $100, 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.[12][13] In 2010, after the aftermath of the Earthquake in Haiti, for every pair of jeans that was donated by customers, Aéropostale sent a brand new pair to Haiti. Also they promoted the show Greek Season 1 DVD with a free T-shirt with a $50 purchase.
Lawsuits
- In March 2007, Aéropostale was accused of infringing a patent owned by Card Activation Technologies, Inc. in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Illinois.[14] However, in a separate lawsuit on the same patent, Card Activation received a ruling on claim construction which it interpreted as "extremely favorable" to its interpretation of the patent and its "pursuit of infringers" of the patent.[15]
- In June 2007, Aéropostale was accused of infringing a patent owned by Picture Patents, LLC in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.[16]
- In July 2009, Aéropostale was accused of infringing a patent owned by Furnace Brook, LLC in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Illinois.[17]
References
- ^ a b "Aeropostale Reports Record March Sales Results" (Press release). Aéropostale. April 9, 2009. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c Aeropostale (ARO) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
- ^ a b Aeropostale (ARO) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
- ^ a b c "Aéropostale Investor Relations - For Students!". Aéropostale. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- ^ Lindeman, Teresa F. (August 2, 2001). "Aeropostale helps Pitt's coaches, athletes sport hipper styles". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Aéropostale Fact Sheet" (Press release). Aéropostale. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ "Aeropostale Reports Record Fourth Quarter Results" (Press release). Aéropostale. March 10, 2005. Archived from Article&ID=684130 the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
{{cite press release}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Aeropostale Reports Record Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2008" (Press release). Aéropostale. March 12, 2009. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ "Aeropostale Opens in Puerto Rico" (Press release). Aéropostale. May 5, 2008. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- ^ "Aeropostale in Peru". Jockey Plaza s.c. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ^ a b "Aeropostale Expands Internationally" (Press release). Aéropostale. March 31, 2009. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ "Aeropostale Partners with Do Something to Launch Teens for Jeans" (Press release). Aéropostale. January 16, 2008. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ "Over 200,000 Teens Expected to Donate Jeans for Homeless Teens" (Press release). Aéropostale. January 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Card Activation Technologies, Inc. Receives Ruling on Claims Construction Issues". Reuters. September 14, 2009.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]