American Eagle Outfitters 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

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react more quickly and profit from emerging trends. Finally, we continue to innovate our store experience to be
more impactful from front to back.
aerie by American Eagle
In the fall of 2006, the Company launched aerie»by American Eagle (“aerie”), a collection of Dormwear»,
intimates and personal care products for the 15- to 25-year-old AE»girl. What started as a sub-brand quickly
became a standalone concept in its own right. The collection is available in 137 standalone aerie stores throughout
the United States and Canada, online at www.aerie.com, and at select American Eagle»stores. aerie»features a
complete fitness line called aerie f.i.t.
TM
, as well as a personal care collection that includes fragrance, body care and
cosmetics to complement the aerie lifestyle. Designed to be sexy, comfortable and cozy, aerie»offers AE»
customers a new way to express their personal style everyday.
77kids by american eagle
Introduced in October of 2008 as an online-only brand, 77kids by american eagle»(“77kids”) offers on-trend,
high-quality clothing and accessories for kids ages two to 10. We plan to open five 77kids»brick-and-mortar stores
in Fiscal 2010. The brand draws from the strong heritage of American Eagle Outfitters», with a point-of-view that’s
thoughtful, playful and real. Like American Eagle»clothing, 77kids focuses on great fit, value and style. All
77kids»clothing is backed by the brand’s 77wash
TM
and 77soft
TM
guarantees to maintain size, shape and quality and
to be extremely soft and comfortable through dozens of washes.
AEO Direct
We sell merchandise via our e-commerce operations, ae.com, aerie.com, 77kids.com and martinandosa.com,
which are extensions of the lifestyle that we convey in our stores. We currently ship to 75 countries. In addition to
purchasing items online, customers can experience AEO Direct in-store through Store-to-Door. Store-to-Door
enables store associates to sell any item available online to an in-store customer in a single transaction, without
placing a phone call. Customers are taking advantage of Store-to-Door by purchasing extended sizes that are not
available in-store, as well as finding a certain size or color that happens to be out-of-stock at the time of their visit.
The ordered items are shipped to the customer’s home free of charge. We accept PayPal as a means of payment from
our ae.com, aerie.com and 77kids.com customers. We are continuing to focus on the growth of AEO Direct through
various initiatives, including improved site efficiency and faster check-out, expansion of sizes and styles, and
targeted marketing strategies.
Information concerning our segments and certain geographic information is contained in Note 2 of the
Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Real Estate
During Fiscal 2009 and continuing into Fiscal 2010, we are taking a more cautious stance on real estate growth
in light of a slow-down in the economy. However, we remain focused on several well-defined strategies that we have
in place to grow our business and strengthen our financial performance.
We are continuing the expansion of our brands throughout the United States. At the end of Fiscal 2009, we
operated in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. During Fiscal 2009, we opened 29 new stores, consisting of eight
U.S. AE stores and 21 aerie stores, including two Canadian aerie stores. These store openings, offset by 24 store
closings, increased our total store base to 1,103 stores.
Additionally, our gross square footage increased by approximately 1% during Fiscal 2009, with approximately
58% attributable to the incremental square footage from 22 AE U.S. and Canadian store remodels and the remaining
42% attributable to new store openings.
In Fiscal 2010, we plan to open 14 AE and 20 aerie stores and remodel approximately 20 existing AE stores. We
plan to close all 28 M+O stores and 15 to 25 AE stores. We also plan to open five 77kids stores with an average size of
5,000 gross square feet. Our consolidated square footage growth is expected to be relatively flat compared to Fiscal
3