American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) is suddenly relevant again as Aerie's loungewear becomes a popular choice for the public amid the coronavirus pandemic. American Eagle is Aerie's parent company, and while both are aimed at Generation Z and younger Millennials, Aerie stands out a little more thanks to its body positive message ingrained into its brand.
As younger generations are drawn to more socially conscious issues, Aerie's ads with "authentic women" in their AerieReal commercials and social media ads. Their focus on inclusivity and untouched photos of models makes them incredibly popular among the younger crowd, but thats hardly the only thing keeping them in the black during the pandemic.
Aerie and American Eagle already had a very strong online shopping presence. With a younger audience, shopping online is more popular. They were already set up to ship to a wide audience and market on social media. On top of that, their loungewear is both affordable and aimed at a huge demographic. With so much of Aerie's consumer base already shopping like this, the pandemic wasn't too much of a drastic change for the company.
Instead, it has actually been helping them. Of course, like all companies it saw a drop just as quarantine set in, simply because people were losing their jobs and unsure when money was going to be flowing readily again. But as remote work set up, restaurants and bars figured out a new way to keep their kitchens running, and unemployment came in to help support those who couldn't find something better, purchases started rolling in.
Aerie can thank the new normal of working and schooling from home for all of their loungewear sales. The country at large has forgone jeans and underwire bras. Instead, sweatpants and comfort are in. If remote learning and working stays popular, loungewear very likely will as well.