"We are excited about the growth opportunities … including ourinitial penetration of the Canadian market," chairman and CEOJulian Geiger relayed in his prepared statement. "It is our goal tomaintain the balance in our merchandise and invest in appropriateinfrastructure to support our expanding business."

Despite popularity as a brand among young Canadians, Aeropostalehas no retail presence across the border as it celebrates 20 yearsin business. The firm plans to have 10 there by FY 2008, althoughmost of the growth will continue to be in the firm's backyard, withanother 75 stores slated to open in the United States this year.Four stores came on line in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006,giving Aeropostale 729 stores in 47 states. The company has anotherline, Jimmy'Z, that has 14 stores in 11 states.

The 71 new stores opened nationally in 2006 were the fewestlaunches for Aeropostale since 2001, but company officialsreaffirmed their goal of reaching 1,000 stores. Geiger did notprovide specifics on which areas will see the biggest expansion.Another goal is to open a new distribution center on the West Coastto service Aeropostale's regional operations.