American Apparel: Smart Goals for Future Growth

American Apparel:  SMART Goals for Future Growth

SaKenya Kiaria Mayo

Southern New Hampshire University

Abstract

This paper will discuss American Apparel rebranding and set a couple S.M.A.R.T goals for the company. “American Apparel is a vertical integrated manufacturer, distributor and retailer of branded basic fashion (Mehta, 2016).” The company started out with the mission to make great quality clothing. American Apparel went from being a top brand to accumulating massive amounts of debt over the last 10 years, which in turn caused a major decline in their business. Since American Apparel already has established a loyal customer base and they are known for selling high quality products, they can begin to rebuild their brand through e-commerce.

The company was founded by Dov Charney in 1989 who served as CEO. American

Apparel’s mission is to make clothing of great quality without hiring workers and paying them

really low wages. According to their business model American Apparel’s goal is to make

garments that people love to wear without having to rely on cheap labor so they do everything

relating to the production of their garments in-house which means they do not rely on

outsourcing like other companies.

Two of the biggest challenges American Apparel is facing is their massive debt and the

recent firing of the company CEO, Dov Charney. “From being the top trendsetting brand in 2008

to becoming a debt-ridden company, the journey of American Apparel has been very difficult”

(Mehta, A 2016). One goal for American Apparel would be to expand and grow their online sales by 20% through social media within six months. Social media sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook would allow American Apparel to promote their brand and introduce their different product lines to online consumers. They could also implement the idea of some products being only online.