Dive Brief:
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Los Angeles-based American Apparel, in dire need of cash, plans to sell $30.5 million of stock to fund its turnaround and meet debt requirements, the company announced Tuesday.
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The company, which started trading publicly in 2007, has faced intermittent financial crises like this since 2009 and has seen its fortunes both rise and fall.
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The retailer also faces delisting by the New York Stock Exchange, which sent a warning and asked for a turnaround plan in February. The company complied March 21 with the plan request.
Dive Insight:
American Apparel, with its brash, cocky, sometimes vulgar CEO Dov Charney, is a mixed bag. Its middle of the road clothing is fairly well made and, to the delight of many, made in the USA. But its marketing approach can be dodgy at best. That makes it hard to root for the company’s success at times, especially for the young women who are both its target and its targeted customers. Still, American Apparel, when it’s successful, is an American success story in an era of mostly overseas manufacturing in the clothing industry.