Brands that Won’t Survive 2012: American Apparel and Sears?

Pictured: An American Apparel Store,  Photo:  John Makely  msnbc.com file

Every year 24/7 Wall St. creates a list of brands that will disappear, meaning, they are going out of business in big way.  Puff! They are about to disappear.  That image reminds me of the wicked witch melting in the Wizard of Oz.  This year’s list of sinking brands includes Sears, Sony Pictures, American Apparel, Nokia, Saab, A&W All-American Foods Restaurants, Soap Opera Digest, Sony Ericsson, MySpace, and Kellog’s Corn Pops.  Upon reading this story, my first thought was, wait, what about the Kardashians bringing fashion to Sears?   Does this mean that a mass produced line of celebrity labeled fashion probably made in China or India won’t be able to rake in profits? I’d actually be glad to see that.  However, I’m sad for Sears that they are on this list, although fashion may not be their strongest suit, they certainly do deliver consumer value with brands like Kenmore.

And what about American Apparel? Their stores are all over here in Southern California. According to 24/7, “the once-hip retailer, reached the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year, and there is no indication that it has gained anything more than a little time with its latest financing. ” Sadly, I haven’t seen anything lust-worthy over at American Apparel since Jennifer Hudson wore one of their dresses on her album cover.  I think the brand is simply being eclipsed by the proliferation of budget designer lines in the market from folks like Target and even Walmart’s Norma Kamali.  Maybe they should look at being a brand within a retail store, rather than a stand alone store brand.  What do you think readers? Do you buy American Apparel? I’d like to see them stick around because they are made in the US, and there are so few brands especially in fashion, that provide jobs to Americans.

As for the failure of MySpace, that’s not really much of a surprise. MySpace was once the top social media networking sites and it was one of the first in market.  It seems that Facebook passed them long ago, but I feel bad for the customers who have created strong communities on MySpace. It’s time for them to start thinking about their migration strategy now.