American Eagle to close all Japanese stores

By

Isabelle Crossley

Translated by
Isabelle Crossley

Published
Nov 25, 2019

All American Eagle and Aerie stores in Japan are set to close by the end of December as the Pennsylvania-based company’s Japanese franchisee, Aoyama Trading Co, shifts its focus to business wear.

Aoyama Trading's licence agreement with American Eagle and Aerie will be terminated at the end of December, the Japanese firm said in a press release.

Aoyama Trading first established Eagle Retailing as a joint venture with Sumikin Bussan Corporation (now called Nippon Steel Trading) in December 2010. As a franchisee of American Eagle’s US business, Eagle Retailing has run operations for American Eagle and the innerwear brand Aerie in Japan since then.

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Through the joint venture, the first American Eagle brick-and-mortar store in Japan opened in Omotesando in April 2012. By the end of March 2019, the business counted 33 branded stores in Japan with e-commerce also driving sales. 
 
Aoyama Trading Co. will close all of the Pennsylvania-based company’s stores in Japan sequentially beginning on December 18. The company’s Japanese e-commerce site will close at 9pm JST on December 31.