2010 has not been a good year for American Apparel. The company's well-pulblicized money troubles continued yesterday, as the brand suffered its worst day on the stock market, following the departure of its auditor.
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, American Apparel revealed that Deloitte & Touche had resigned as the company's accountant after becoming aware of information that could compromise the legitimacy of financials they issued from 2009 and previous years. Even without the specifics, this statement certainly raises the brand's already high-risk profile, inducing investors to pull out, and the company's stock to drop by as much as 25 percent.
These new financial woes, coupled with unpaid loans, and the potential that American Apparel already runs the risk of getting delisted from the stock market if it doesn't turn things around by mid-August, is just one half of the brand's troubles. On the internal side of things, the company, and specifically its CEO Dov Charney, has been subject to an onslaught of bad press surrounding its controversial, appearance-based hiring practices, as well as its employee dress code requirements.
For a while it seemed like American Apparel's unconventional company standards and controversial CEO only helped the all American-made brand sell more tri-blend t-shirts, but that's actually not the case. Though it's certainly garnered more attention for the ubiquitous-seeming brand, sales haven't exactly matched up to the press ink. When it comes to brand loyalty, now mght be the time for fans to actually step up to the register and show their support.
