American Apparel Opens New Store in Oak Brook, IL

OAK BROOK, Ill. and LOS ANGELES, Oct 30, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, has opened a new store in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The 2,200 sq. ft. store is in Oakbrook Center, one of the largest outdoor malls in the country. American Apparel was able to secure a center court location in the mall, one of its largest mall storefronts to date. The window displays stretch nearly 60 ft. across and are filled with the company's sweatshop-free, domestically produced apparel.

"This is just a beautiful mall, especially when it is lit up at night. Oak Brook is an interesting city because although technically a suburb of Chicago, it has a large population of fashionable young people who live nearby, and we're excited to serve them," said Dan Abenhaim, an American Apparel operations manager.

This location features American Apparel's staple collection of basic t-shirts, sweatshirts and underwear, as well as the company's new product categories designed for the upcoming winter season, like coats, thermals and accessories such as hats and gloves. About 15 additional employees will be hired for this store, bringing the company's total staff in the Chicago area to over 100.

"Chicago is an important city for American Apparel. We've expanded significantly here over the last year, first at Belmont and Clark St. and then in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Now with our seventh store in the area, we hope to make our products more accessible to our Chicago customers so that they can always count on us for basic apparel and fashion," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.

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 September 30, 2009, American Apparel employed approximately 9,000 people and operated over 275 retail stores in 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, Japan, South Korea and China. American Apparel also operates a leading wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers. In addition to its retail stores and wholesale operations, American Apparel operates an online retail e-commerce website at http://www.americanapparel.com SOURCE American Apparel URL: http://www.americanapparel.net www.prnewswire.com Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved -0- KEYWORD: California INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FAS

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