American Apparel Opens New Store in Beijing, Biggest International Location to Date

BEIJING, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, has announced the opening of a new store Beijing. Located in the new Parkview Green mall, the store will mark the company's second location in Beijing and its fourth in China. At almost 7500 square feet, it will be the biggest international location operated by American Apparel to date.

"Beijing has been a political, educational and cultural capitol in China for centuries, and now with people flocking to the city from all over the world, it's a place we're excited to expand in. We're very proud to offer our Made in USA products to China and pleased with their response to the ethical practices behind the brand. We are proud to bring our Made in the USA version of the American Dream to this part of the world," said Katherine Johnson, regional manager of Asia.

The store will be located inside Parkview Green, an innovative and sustainably designed mall in the Chaoyang District that uses about half the energy of similarly sized malls. The increased awareness and excitement about the brand following American Apparel's first store in the Nali Mall in Sanlitun made the Chaoyang District, one of the largest shopping and business districts in Beijing, a natural next step for expansion. These demographics, in addition to Parkview's status as the "greenest" building in Beijing, made it the ideal location for American Apparel to open what is now its largest international location.

"American Apparel's expansion, including this opening, has created a total of 100 fair wage jobs at both the retail and operational level in China so far. We're very proud of that and look forward to creating more," Johnson said.

In addition to its brick and mortar locations, the company operates an online shopping portal for Chinese consumers in conjunction with Taobao. American Apparel has also recently opened an online store in Hong Kong. The company will be opening its own dedicated online store for China later this year.

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, 2012 American Apparel had approximately 10,000 employees and operated 251 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 also operates a global e-commerce site that serves over 60 countries worldwide at http://www.americanapparel.net. In addition, American Apparel also operates a leading wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers.

SOURCE American Apparel