AE OPENS ON MELROSE
Byline: Kristin Young
LOS ANGELES — Here in the entertainment capital, product placement in films and on television is a full-time venture. Design houses on Rodeo Drive know this, having added showrooms and staff specifically for the task.
Now, American Eagle Outfitters has followed their lead, with a full-service showroom it opened on Harper Street at Melrose Avenue for the express goal of placing product on young Hollywood.
It’s already paying off. An opening party last Wednesday attracted fresh-faced TV celebs Andrew Keegan, Beverly Mitchell, Nathan West and Rachel Blanchard. Since the doors first opened in April, Rachel Leigh Cook and Shannon Elizabeth have dropped by, and AE scored wardrobing this season’s MTV “Road Rules.”
“One thing that our customer does is soak up entertainment all over the place,” noted Michael Leedy, chief marketing officer for AE.
What’s more, the Warrendale, Pa., casual retailer is insuring that its target customers have a place to go when they catch one of its All-American style T-shirts or jeans on a WB star: plans are under way in California to add 11 more stores to the current 19 by the end of its fiscal year, Jan. 31, 2002.
“California is a huge part of the population of the country,” said Leedy. “It’s a real big opportunity for us to [increase] our market share and brand.”
AE declined to give first-year sales projections for its pending units. But based on an average of $558 in sales per square feet in 2000, with store sizes in the 3,800-square-feet range, 11 more units here could add $23.3 million in annual revenue.
Total sales for the quarter ending May 5 increased 41.3 percent, to $251.6 million. Same-store sales increased 8 percent. AE operates 575 stores in the U.S.