Stores are set to shut down, thousands of employees may be laid off, but we still haven’t reached the end of the American Apparel Bankruptcy: Part II saga. In yet another plot twist, Amazon and Forever 21 are appearing as rumored new suitors ahead of the upcoming bankruptcy auction.
Reuters cites those ever-mysterious “people familiar with the talks” who say that the e-commerce giant — which has been developing its own apparel brands — and the teen retailer are weighing offers to acquire American Apparel. A California company called Next Level Apparel and brand licensor Authentic Brands Group are also reportedly considering bids.
All are in talks with American Apparel and its financial advisers about turning in offers before Friday’s deadline, the insiders say. The retailer declined to comment to Reuters.
The auction is slated for Jan. 9 and 12, and its outcome may determine whether or not thousands of employees lose their jobs: though the retailer already agreed to sell its intellectual property rights to Canadian Company Gildan Activewear for $66 million, American Apparel’s bankruptcy filing allows for an auction that would let other buyers make competing bids. While one requirement for bidders is that they be committed to manufacturing clothes in the United States, those jobs could move anywhere in the country.
This is American Apparel’s second go-around at the bankruptcy table: the company first filed for bankruptcy in Oct. 2015, after ousting its controversial CEO Dov Charney in 2014, amidst a cloud of sexual harassment allegations and generally being a jerk. He tried to buy the company back in Jan. 2016 and was rejected.
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