American Apparel

Troubled clothing firm American Apparel Inc. said Tuesday that its second-quarter sales probably fell compared with a year earlier and that it expected to report a loss. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Los Angeles company also said that it was "unable, without unreasonable effort and expense," to file its quarterly report on time for the three months that ended June 30. The company blamed its weak total sales on a decrease in retail sales, although it didn't provide specific figures.

Cash-strapped clothing maker and retailer American Apparel Inc. got a boost from Los Angeles billionaire investor Ron Burkle, who disclosed Thursday that he had acquired a 6% stake in the company saddled by debt and weak sales over the last year. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Burkle reported he had purchased 4.3 million shares in the open market for $5.9 million between June 10 and Monday. The filing said Burkle made the purchase "because, in his opinion, such shares were undervalued."

Problems are mounting for American Apparel Inc., the popular Los Angeles apparel maker and retailer that has been plagued by debt constraints and weak sales since last year. On Wednesday, the company reported disappointing first-quarter preliminary results and said it expected problems with its debt, sending its shares plummeting 41% to its lowest price in more than a year. It also declined to provide a financial outlook for the year because of continued uncertainty about its business.

American Apparel Inc., the Los Angeles clothing maker and retailer known for its colorful fashions, racy advertising and outspoken chief executive, is fraying at the edges. The company's fourth-quarter profit plunged 21% to $3.05 million, and its stock closed Thursday at $3.16 -- less than half its high of $6.97 late last April. By comparison, rivals such as H&M, Gap and Urban Outfitters in the young-adult sector are performing well. Analysts say that though competitors rode out the recession by selling cheaper clothes, the pricey urban-chic clothier offered few discounts or deals.

It was a holiday sale for a singular group of beneficiaries -- illegal immigrants who had been thrown out of work. "It makes me feel less guilty for buying all this stuff," said Dolores Arellano, 19, one of hundreds of shoppers who thronged Saturday to the parking lot of American Apparel in downtown Los Angeles. The trendy, L.A.-based clothier sponsored the "Justice for Immigrants" event to benefit some 1,600 employees let go in recent months after federal inspections uncovered discrepancies in their immigration documentation.

The reality television show "Project Runway" this season is putting the spotlight on Los Angeles, where designers toil in a loft downtown, competing to win $100,000 to start their own clothing line. The local industry could use the boost. L.A.'s once-flourishing garment design and manufacturing industry is shedding jobs as quickly as a mohair sweater loses its fur. Weak U.S. consumer spending is generating less demand for the services of the people who stitch, cut and sew clothing in Los Angeles County.

Re "Stripped of jobs by Obama," Opinion, Oct. 3, and "Target: American Apparel," Editorial, Oct. 5 When I read about the raid at American Apparel several months ago, I felt that, although lawful, it was boneheaded. I sensed it was another beginner's misstep by the Obama administration. Tim Rutten's column has convinced me. As a member of the majority who initially looked forward with hope to the much-needed change in Washington politics, I have finally joined the millions of the same voters who have plunged into despair and disgust.

American Apparel is in the process of firing all of its undocumented workers, under pressure from the Department of Homeland Security -- a move that will cause as much real harm to Los Angeles as it will imaginary good. Taking away as many as 1,800 jobs that pay $10 to $12 an hour plus benefits will probably drive those workers into an underground economy or into sweatshops, maybe into crime, maybe homelessness. They and their children will be more susceptible to poverty and hunger and more likely to require public assistance.

This week, unemployment among American workers climbed to its highest level in a quarter of a century. In parts of Los Angeles, joblessness has reached levels unmatched since the Depression. In many predominantly African American and Latino neighborhoods, nearly one in four people is out of work. Yet the Obama administration has chosen this moment to deprive more than 1,800 Angelenos, nearly all Latino immigrants, of jobs that not only pay a living wage but provide health insurance and other benefits.

Shoplifting From American Apparel A Novella Tao Lin Melville House: 104 pp., $13 paper It's easy to be skeptical. There's little character development, less plot and scrawny dialogue. Landscape? The warm blue glow of Internet Explorer, the NYU campus and a couple of jail cells. Voice of the future? Don't think so. "I think we are going insane," Luis e-mails Sam. "From not being around people. We are starting to go inside ourselves, and play around inside of our own mental illness.