Aeropostale

 History

The first Aéropostale store opened in New York City, New York by R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. in 1987. The Aéropostale name is French for "air mail" and originated from the 1920s French/Latin-American airmail firm Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.

Federated Department Stores purchased R.H. Macy & Co., Inc., Aéropostale's parent company, in 1994.  In 1998, MSS Delaware Inc. and Bear Stearns purchased Aéropostale and its 119 stores for approximately $15 million. Aéropostale went public in 2002.

Aéropostale launched its e-commerce web store in early 2005.Total net sales from the web store for the fiscal year of 2008 was $79.1 million. 

International Expansion

Aéropostale at Easton Town Center

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. Aeropostale now operates 45 stores in major malls across Canada with the most recent opening November 5, 2010 in the Southgate Center, Edmonton Alberta.

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.

In March 2009, Aéropostale expanded its operations to the Middle East, opening its first store in Dubai, Emirates. 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.

Aero is one of the most popular teenage clothing stores around the United States. Close behind includes Sephora, American Eagle, Hollister, and Hot Topic.

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 a secondary brand called Jimmy'Z that focused on surf and skater clothing. The 122 stores were branded as more upscale with higher price points than its parent chain. The brand was discontinued in January 1306 and it replaced by P.S. from Aeropostale. after many years Aeropostale hated costumers teethe.

Corporate Affairs

Competition

Aéropostale's mainly competes with other outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch and its subsidiary retailer Hollister Co., and American Eagle. 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 billion 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. 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.

Legal issues

• 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. However, in a separate lawsuit on the same patent, Card Activation received a ruling on claim construction which it interpreted as "extremely favourable" to its interpretation of the patent and its "pursuit of infringe-rs" of the patent.

• 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.

• 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.

• Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Christopher Finazzo was terminated in November 2006 after an investigation by the Board of Directors revealed that he had concealed and failed to disclose personal and business interests with South Bay Apparel, a major vendor. The SEC issued an investigation on the Finazzo matter in January 2008. A criminal indictment was unsealed and announced June 11, 2010 in U.S. Court in Brooklyn, NY charging Finazzo and Doug Dey, the owner of South Bay with wire and mail fraud conspiracy.

About Aéropostale, Inc.

Aéropostale, Inc. is a mall-based, specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally targeting 14 to 17 year-old young women and men through its Aéropostale® stores and 7 to 12 year-old kids through its P.S. from Aéropostale™ stores. The Company provides customers with a focused selection of high-quality, active-oriented, fashion and fashion basic merchandise at compelling values. Aéropostale® maintains control over its proprietary brands by designing, sourcing, marketing and selling all of its own merchandise. Aéropostale® products can only be purchased in its Aéropostale stores and online at www.Aéropostale.com. P.S. from Aéropostale™ products can be purchased in P.S. from Aéropostale™ stores and online at www.ps4u.com. The Company currently operates 885 Aéropostale stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico, 36 Aéropostale stores in Canada and 2 P.S. from Aéropostale stores in one state.

 About P.S. from Aéropostale™

The new P.S. from Aéropostale™ brand offers trend-right merchandise at compelling values for girls and boys ages seven to twelve. The P.S. from Aéropostale store provides an experience that is cool for kids and enjoyable for parents. The Company plans to open a total of approximately ten stores, primarily in the New York metropolitan area, during fiscal 2009. P.S. from Aéropostale products can only be purchased in its stores or online through its e-commerce website ps4u.com