Report: Aeropostale has potential to become a 500-store chain—again

A big mall developer thinks Aerospostale still has plenty of life left in it.



Simon Property Group, along with General Growth Properties and several other companies, bought the failing chain out of bankruptcy in September. Speaking to a group of investors last week, CEO David Simon expressed confidence in Aeropostale’s ability to regain momentum.



“Right now we’re looking at around 500 stores,” Simon told investors according to a report by Fortune. Simon went on to say: “The fact of the matter is we found out there’s a lot more store profitability out there than we thought.”



Simon also shot down the rumor that the mall owners, in entering into the group to buy Aeropostale, were mainly trying to reduce the risk of rising vacancies in their properties, according to the report.



“The only reason we decided to make this investment is because we believe we can make money,” Simon said, noting the low profit multiple of Aéropostale’s price at the bankruptcy auction.



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