American Eagle and Aerie Carnaby store openings fall through

The highly anticipated UK store debuts for American Eagle and Aerie have been scrapped after the brands’ licensee company AEO EU descended into liquidation in January.

The US fashion brands were set to open their first stores in the country at London’s Carnaby location in December. However, the brands’ owner American Eagle decided to terminate the deal after AEO EU failed to repay a debt of 7.7 million dollars.

Planned American Eagle and Aerie stores were to span a total of over 5,500 square feet and were both due to open at Foubert’s Place, a popular shopping destination in London.

It comes as a blow to Shaftesbury, the area’s property owner, which has been met with success and an increase in footfall after the UK returned to normality following lengthy lockdowns.

In a statement, Samantha Bain-Mollison, the retail director at the property company, said: “The company holding the master licence to trade these two brands in the UK went into liquidation, so could no longer retail from this location. We are now remarketing the two stores which are in a prime location in Carnaby and we will be seeking to add to the exciting retail line up of flagship stores on the street.”

The shopping destination reported a successful end to 2021, announcing a total of 60 new brand signings to the area since October 2020, 33 of which signed last year.