AA has plenty of “penetration” in the neighborhood in the form of t-shirts which are sold by many mission retailers. Honestly, what does this have to do with capitalist competition? AA is both a retailer and part of the supply chain. It seems like they have a pretty good advantage. The don’t even need an AA retail store on Valencia to make revenue from the area. You have a valid point with regards to jobs but it sounds like AA will probably have to close some stores anyways. Finally, moving AA onto Valencia might have driven up the rent which may make more stores close. So the jobs gain might have been negated. I appreciate where you are coming from but you blanket “competition” statements are seemingly out of place here.

On a seperate note, I think AA’s business problems are due more to Dov Charney openly being a complete scumbag than their advertising choices.

Their stock price reflects this. On paper they are technically bankrupt, and they have broken their lending covenants. The only reason they haven’t declared bankruptcy is their lenders have allowed them extra time, and Wall Street believe they still have some goodwill in their brand.

Consumers are voting with their wallets, and voting against AA. Which leads me into my final rant: blocking AA from the Mission was a truly sad move by our community. It shows the weakness of so many retailers, and their inability to create healthy business models. By resorting to protectionary measures we help nobody. AA would have created jobs and improved the Valencia economic scene. Competition strengths retailers and improves products and services for consumers. I love the Mission, but this whole situation made me sad and angry, and showed that we don’t value progress, jobs or competition.