FARGO — Aerie, a popular intimate apparel/activewear sub-brand owned by American Eagle, opens at 10 am today at West Acres.
Shoppers will finally get a “peek-a-boo” of what’s underneath the Aerie signage, which has covered the entire storefront for weeks.
The new store is located between Maurice’s and American Eagle in the space formerly occupied by Pink. In turn, Pink has been incorporated into the relocated and expanded Victoria’s Secret space, says Niki DeConcini, director of marketing and events at West Acres.
Aerie — which stands for (A) american (E)agle linge(rie) — carries a wide variety of bras and undergarments, along with dormwear, active apparel, loungewear, sleepwear and accessories. It markets mainly to a 15- to 22-year-old demographic and most of its clothing falls in the $25 to $55 price range.
A West Acres Facebook post cites Aeri e as “by far one of the most requested stores by our visitors.”
“We continuously strive to bring in exciting and sought-after brands that resonate with our customers, and Aerie undoubtedly checks all the boxes,” DeConcini told The Forum. “With their commitment to body positivity, inclusivity and empowering messaging, Aerie has captured the hearts of their customers.”
“Aerie Real” is a body-image campaign that was launched by the company in 2014 in conjunction with an earlier American Eagle announcement that it would discontinue using supermodels and digitally retouched models to encourage body-positive thinking. The Aerie Real movement features models of different sizes, shapes and skin colors, along with their tattoos, moles and beauty marks, according to PR Newswire.
As part of this campaign, Aerie became the first national retailer to sponsor the National Eating Disorders Association, including its national walks awareness program known as “NEDA Walk.” The initiative raises funds for educational programs and spreads awareness about eating disorders.
Its Aerie Real Foundation gives grants annually to organizations like Free the Girls, a nonprofit which helps provide economic opportunities to victims of human-trafficking.
American Eagle launched Aerie as its first sub-brand in 2006 with the opening of its first stand-alone store in Greenville, SC Today, AEO corporation operates about 865 American Eagle stores and 295 Aerie brand stand-alone stores in total, according to Reuters .
Tammy has been a storyteller most of her life. Before she learned the alphabet, she told stories by drawing pictures and then dictated the narrative to her ever-patient mother. A graduate of North Dakota State University, she has worked as a Dickinson, ND, bureau reporter, a Bismarck Tribune feature writer/columnist, a Forum feature reporter, columnist and editor, a writer in NDSU’s Publications Services, a marketing/social media specialist , an education associate in public broadcasting and a communications specialist at a nonprofit.