9malls.com review of American Eagle, AE.com Rating: *** 1/2 3.5 out of 5 stars Web site: www.AE.com Who is American Eagle? According to Alexa.com American Eagle, AE.com has a traffic rank of 2,792. The Alexa.com description of American Eagle is Offers casual clothing for men and women. According to the AE web site, founded in 1977 "American Eagle Outfitters designs, markets and sells its own brand of laidback, current clothing targeting 15 to 25 year-olds, providing high-quality merchandise at affordable prices." Right now get free shipping when you spend $100 or more. American Eagle Review: Everything looks great as far as reviews go for American Eagle. BizRate has 93% positive score, 2% neutral, and only 5% negative. These are really exceptional reviews. The BizRate.com reviews are based on 525,000 reviews since 2000. One review I thought was kind of funny saying that American Eagle prices were a little high for clothing. I'd say AE is in the middle for clothing prices try Abercrombie if you want higher prices. AE also always has something on clearance so if you're more price sensitive I'd only by AE clothes when they are on sale. ePinions gives American Eagle a 4 out of 5 stars. One reviewer said mentioned American Eagle provides, "quality clothes, great sales & service." Finances: According to Alexa.com which isn't the most reliable source there are 5,500 employees at American Eagle, and there have revenue of 2.90 billion. The AE stock system on the NASDAQ is AEO. Stands for American Eagle Outfitters. In a Nov. 8th 2007 article by Reuters they report October 2007 AE sales were down 3%. "Total sales rose 13 percent for the four weeks ended Nov. 3 to $210.2 million (http://www.reuters.com/article/consumerproducts-SP/idUSN0756148220071108)." Abercrombie sales for comparison sake were up 16% in October 2007. "16% increase over net sales of $216.8 million for the four week period ended October 28, 2006 (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLTH04208112007-1.htm)." American Eagle currently as of November 15th 2007 has a BUY rating from TheStreet.com. In business year 2007 American Eagle had net income of 2,794 ($ millions) in business year 2006 AE had earnings of 2,309 ($ millions). This represents an increase of 21% year over year. Not bad I must say! What I think of American Eagle: It's a store for those who can't afford Abercrombie. Quality isn't as high as Abercrombie therefore I'd rather shop Abercrombie or Hollister. I don't like the fact that American Eagle seems to copy Abercrombie and Hollister clothing designs. Abercrombie actually agrees with me on this point because on Friday, July 10, 1998 in an article published by BizJournal.com explains the lawsuit filed by Abercrombie against American Eagle. They sued AE for "illegally knocked off its entire company, from clothing to catalogs (http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/1998/07/13/story5.html)." Abercrombie claims, "the local retailer has engaged in the "intentional and systematic copying of its brand, images and business practices, including its merchandise, marketing and catalog (http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/1998/07/13/story5.html)." American Eagle claims that so called copying is on par with what is happening all the time in the clothing industry. This law suite was later won by American Eagle. "American Eagle Outfitters (Nasdaq: AEOS) announced today that for the third time in four years it once again prevailed in court against Abercrombie & Fitch. On February 15, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision by the lower court to dismiss the case filed by Abercrombie in June 1998 (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-18-2002/0001671098&EDATE=)." I've noticed that American Eagle even puts their stores in the mall right across from Abercrombie. Copying or not AE is Abercrombie, but cheaper. So in the end I do recommend American Eagle. Disclaimer: Please do your own research especially for financial data. I'm writing this review to the best of my ability based on the information I've obtained and analyzed. Please look at this review as general information and not as a financial statement for American Eagle. Back to 9malls.com |
