Aeropostale rehires its former CEO

Aeropostale Inc., the teen apparel retailer, has rehired Julian Geiger as its chief executive officer in a bid to win back their customers and to put an end to their run of losses for the past six quarters.

This resulted in its shares increasing by 11% during Monday’s extended trading. The 63-year old Julian Geiger held the position as CEO in the group from 1996 to 2009.  During this time he increased Aeropostale’s sales from $140m during 1998 to $1.9bn during 2008.  He rejoins the company immediately and will continue as a serving board member.

His appointment results in the replacement of Thomas Johnson, who has been CEO since 2010.

It has been a struggle for the company to keep pace with the change in fashion trends and try to retain and attract teen customers who are cutting budgets due to low wage increases and a weakened job market.  It has also lost business to other brands, such as H&M, Zara and Forever 21 who are able to launch styles from the runway to their stores within a few weeks.

The company has forecast a loss of 42 to 45 cents per share for the quarter ended Aug 3, compared to its previous forecast of 55 to 61 cents, however, analysts are looking at a loss of 58 cents. Its sales declined by 13% to $396.2m during Q2 2014.  The company is expecting operating losses of $36m to $38m during this quarter, down from the previous forecast of $49m to $54m. Aeropostale’s shares increased by 3.7% to $3.36.

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