The trading licence agreement with American Eagle and Aerie by Aoyama will be terminated at the end of December, the Japanese firm confirmed in a press release. Aoyama Trading first established Eagle Retailing as a joint venture with Sumikin Bussan Corporation, back in December 2010. As a franchisee of American Eagle’s US business, Eagle Retailing has run operations for American Eagle and the innerwear brand Aerie in Japan since then.
Through the joint venture, the first American Eagle brick-and-mortar store in Japan opened in Omotesando in April 2012. Fast-forward to the end of 2019 and the business had a total store count of 33 in Japan with e-commerce also being a driving force behind overall sales.
All of the stores will close, beginning on December 18. The e-commerce website will close at 21:00 (JST) on December 31, 2019.
