American Apparel CEO, Dov Chaney, Praises Company Milestones

This announcement took place on September 15th, 2008...

Dov Charney (photo right), C.E.O. of retail giant American Apparel, announced the achievement of economic milestones during a recent press conference in Los Angeles. American Apparel, owner of the nation's largest garment factory, topped a worldwide employment figure of 10,000, said Charney. The company has hired roughly 3,500 employees so far in 2008, he added, including 2,500 manufacturing hires at American Apparel's Los Angeles facilities.

Charney also announced American Apparel had completed the grant of roughly 1.9 million shares of the firm's common stock to its factory employees, worth approximately $18 million. The company will distribute another 800,000 shares in the near future, Charney added.

American Apparel Beginnings

The rise of retail giant American Apparel has its origins in cross-border trips founder Charney would make from his native Montreal to nearby U.S. towns. It was during these visits in the early 90s that Charney noticed the disparity between the comfortable casual clothing on store shelves south of the border and the cheaper polyester blends available in Canada. Charney started buying Hanes T-shirts and selling them at a premium back home, and the seeds of an American success story were sewn.

After studying in New England, Charney relocated to Los Angeles and started American Apparel as a wholesale T-shirt manufacturer. In 2003 Dov Charney rented a small storefront in East Los Angeles and immediately recognized the potential for retail expansion. In the fall of the same year, Charney opened three stores. The company’s simple, tight-fitting T-shirts account for the lion’s share of the chain’s success. But the ubiquitous outlets also sell underwear, socks, dresses, tank tops, polo shirts, baby clothes, and even dog clothing.

But American Apparel’s profitability is only half the story.

Charney’s monetary milestones have been somewhat overshadowed by the company’s dynamic structure. As all other major retailers have outsourced their manufacturing to the third world, enticed by cheap labor, American Apparel has remained planted in the United States, sweatshop free.

American Apparel clothing is made at the company’s 800,000 square-foot location in downtown Los Angeles, the nation’s largest garment factory. Charney’s pays his workers almost twice the California minimum wage and offers health insurance for $8 a week. Additionally, American Apparel offers workers free English lessons and provides well-lighted and well-ventilated working areas, conditions that have won Charney praise among anti-sweatshop activists.

And his vertically integrated company can turn an idea for a garment into a finished product on store shelves within days, another surefire strategy for success.

Charney has also remodeled retail’s concept of sexiness by picturing regular men and women in his advertisements, people one might find in the neighborhood coffee shop, or behind the counter at one of his stores. The provocative, lo-fi photos of scantily clad young people are taken by Charney himself, at times, and approximate the extravagant environment at American Apparel workplaces.

Charney’s reputation as a maverick salesman has not come without hazards. American Apparel garnered unwanted publicity in 2005 when several lawsuits filed by former employees accused Charney and American Apparel of sexual harassment.Charney has steadfastly denied the charges, and only one of the three suits had gone to trial.

Charney took American Apparel public through an unconventional 'reverse-merger' with investment firm Endeavor Acquisition Group in December 2006 for an initial value of $382.5 million. Charney continues to maintain his creative freedom.

More photos of Dov..

Check out these other story links on Dov Charney..

Dov Charney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dov Charney (born January 31, 1969 in Montreal, Canada) is the founder and CEO of American Apparel ("AA"), a clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer ... en.wikipedia.org

clipped from Google - 9/2008

Sexy marketing or sexual harassment? - Dateline NBC- msnbc.com
For American Apparel CEO Dov Charney, he's just building a new kind of company . Josh Mankiewicz reports on the allegations of sexual harassment and Web ... www.msnbc.msn.com

clipped from Google - 9/2008

Dov Charney: perv, genius, or perv-genius? - StyleList Blog
May 20, 2008 ... Dov Charney: perv, genius, or perv-genius? ... his name is Dov Charney -- and he was just named the fashion industry's Retailer of the Year. ... http://www.stylelist.com/

clipped from Google - 9/2008

Features : Radar Online : An American Apparel model's defense of ...
Mar 5, 2008 ... My problem is not with the models and whether or not they choose to have sex with Dov Charney (he aint that cute anyways though), ... www.radaronline.com
clipped from Google - 9/2008