American Apparel: Made in East L.A.?

L.A. Garment and Citizen's Dot Dot Dish column (spotted by the Eastsider L.A.) recently reported on rumors that American Apparel may move its operations from the gritty industrialscape just east of downtown and into the old Sears store on Olympic and Soto. The Sears locale makes sense, given AA's reliance on its vertical-integration model, in which all aspects of its business, from dyeing to cutting to billing, etc., are kept in one building -- currently, a red-brick, 800,000 square foot complex at Alameda and Seventh streets.

No reason given for the rumored move. The company has been hit by its sluggish performance on Wall Street, a very public lawsuit filed against it by Woody Allen and, this week, federal immigration authorities informed AA that many of its employees have been found to be working illegally. G&C wondered what would become of the company's "Made in Downtown L.A." tag line if it were to move across the river.

A call to American Apparel seeking word on the move was not returned by posting time.