American Apparel — bankruptcy and shutting down wholesale website — some general info

How many of you guys use American Apparel blanks? I went on the wholesale website recently to buy some and found that it is temporarily down. Here is my understanding of the current situation.

What we know

So, we all know that American Apparel filed for Chapter 22 bankruptcy last year. This does not mean they’re out of business. Essentially what happened is that they have been converted from a public company (traded on the sock market) to a private company (not traded on the stock market). To do this a couple big investors came in a bought out most of the company. These investors are now the controlling partners of the company. Pretty sure the previous founder and CEO has been booted out and no longer has any stake or power in the company. I think he’s suing to try to get back in, but that’s beside the point.

What we care about

We want to know can we still buy blanks, that’s really it. The retail website is still up and running but wholesale is down for now, but as you can see the distributers are still selling the goods.These sites usually mark up the product a dollar or two from what AA was selling them wholesale for. Sometimes you come out ahead ordering from one of these sties anyway since AA’s shipping can be more pricey than other wholesalers. So, we know we’re currently in the clear.

Why it matters?

As a brand running a business, your supply chain is very important. Although AA never fully went under, it sheds light on the possibility. If you are relying on one company for the majority of your product, you run the risk of things like this.

So?

If you’re using blank apparel for your brand, make sure you check out as many different suppliers as possible. Personally, I don’t think AA has the best quality for the price tag. There a bunch of other brands that are killing it and, and other wholesale websites that do an amazing job as well. I am going to be writing a bunch of wholesale product reviews on a ton of brands in the next few days. Ill go into price, quality, and where to get them online.

Back at you soon with more info!

Ben