American Eagle Ready to Fly High

American
Eagle Outfitters (AEO) is a staple clothing retailer in most US and Canadian
malls that caters to the 15 to 25 year old demographic.<!--more--> It is in the process of
expanding its concept store Martin + OSA to focus on the under served 25 to 40 year
old market, as well as other new concepts that should be strong growth drivers
in the future. AEO has very strong brand
recognition with 12 to 19 year olds and is ranked 2^nd only behind
Nike in a spring 2007 survey by Teen Research Unlimited.

AEO opened it’s first store in 1977 and has a
loyal customer base that has grown up alongside the company. Since their core American Eagle stores cater
to a younger crowd they have wisely decided to proliferate a new concept Martin
+ OSA. Many of AEO’s customers that grow
out of their core styles will now have an additional option to patronize AEO
for another 10 to 20 years at this new concept (i.e. more sales/profits from existing
customers).