American Apparel, Inc. (NYSE Amex: APP) today announced the company’s comparable store sales for the month of March 2009 and for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

American Apparel reported that for the month of March 2009, sales for stores open for more than twelve months decreased 11% over the year ago period, on a constant currency basis. For the month of March 2008, comparable store sales increased 29%. There were 169 stores in the sales comparison for March 2009.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, comparable store sales decreased 7% over the first quarter of 2008. As previously reported, comparable store sales increased 37% for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

American Apparel also reported that total retail sales (unaudited) for the month of March 2009 increased 12% to $28.2 million, compared to $25.2 million for March 2008. Total retail sales (unaudited) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 increased 21% to $77.9 million, compared to $64.6 million in the first quarter of 2008.

American Apparel opened one new retail store during the month of March in Tijuana, Mexico. In the first quarter of 2009, American Apparel opened 6 new retail locations and closed one location.

About American Apparel

American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel based in downtown Los Angeles, California. As of March 31, 2009 American Apparel employed approximately 10,000 people and operated over 260 retail stores in 19 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China. American Apparel also operates a leading wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers. In addition to its retail stores and wholesale operations, American Apparel operates an online retail e-commerce website at http://www.americanapparel.com.
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