clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

This is American Apparel's Shiny, New, High-Tech Warehouse

New, 3 comments
By Leslie Price
3 comments / new

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

  • Looking across the vast expanse of the new warehouse in La Mirada.
  • Shelving that stretches up to 26 feet in the air waits for boxes full of merchandise.
  • Looking down a row.
  • A worker on an El Cheapo Lift inspects lighting.
  • An American Apparel-branded hand truck.
  • Bird's-eye view of the conveyor doing its thing.
  • Underneath.
  • Boxes on a journey.
  • What a warehouse worker will see.
  • AA trashcan.
  • Ready and waiting for trucks.
  • Stairs to the conveyor.
  • Another view of the action.
  • The only box we could find.
  • AA staffers and Racked LA editor Leslie Price (in blue) do a walk through.
  • From inside the operations control room.
  • The truck docking area outside.
  • Official signage on the exterior of the building.

Photos Elizabeth Daniels

American Apparel is growing up. The company, whose business was built on affordable basics produced right here in the US of A, has outgrown its iconic warehouse space in Downtown LA. And instead of annexing more space nearby, AA made the executive decision to invest in the future in a big, big way by leasing a nearly 225,000-square-foot, one-floor warehouse in La Mirada.

The vertically-integrated manufacturer is in the process of testing the equipment at its shiny, vast new space and plans to begin trucking in inventory this January. According to company higher ups, the warehouse was needed for a few reasons. Space was one, speed another. The AA Factory Downtown is spread over multiple floors of a building erected in 1917, making the day-to-day operations of running a global business inefficient and tedious. Right now, everything is done by hand.

The La Mirada space won't replace the DTLA HQ, which the company will retain for its production and office space. But it will take over as the major distribution center for AA. The technology here has been carefully selected and customized for Charney & Co., from self-piloted cars by Raymond that will zoom at seven to eight miles an hour up and down shelving aisles to energy-efficient overhead lighting and a massive conveyor belt that only kicks on when a box is placed upon it. American Apparel expects that the facility upgrade will net them millions in savings per year. Take a tour of the space, above, with our exclusive gallery.
· American Apparel [Official Site]
· American Apparel Acquires Culty Surf Brand Warriors of Radness [Racked]
· American Apparel's New Polishes Create Cool Gradient Manis [Racked]
· Preview the Goods at American Apparel's Epic DTLA Sale [Racked]

Loading comments...