Let me level with you right off the bat.  I don’t wear American Eagle Outfitter clothing.  I don’t shop there.  

That’s not because I’ve joined a boycott due to allegations that the store might be a little more anti-union than it should be.  It’s because David Lampsen isn’t a tiny guy and the stuff at AEO with an XL label tends to be a little on the skin-tight side of things.  If I sneezed in a button-up XL shirt from American Eagle, someone would lose an eye when the buttons shot across the room.

If you aren’t Lampsen lumpy, though, it’s a great place to shop.  Kids dig it because American Eagle has a knack for style.  Grown-ups like the subdued tones of the apparell and the way AE can blend rather classic styling with comfort.  Everyone should like the fact that you can find an American Eagle coupon on two to help you save money at the retailer.

That’s right, AE issues coupons.  

Things are a little tough for the ubiquitous mall retailer these days.  They’re embroiled in a lawsuit with CitiGroup, as AE claims that the investment group inappropriately stuck them with some really bad assets.  They’re also experiencing sales problems as the recession sneaks its way into shopping centers all around the world.  Their January numbers, for instance, were miserable.  TradingMarkets noted that they reported a massive 22% drop in sales:

The… retailer said total sales for all stores for the four weeks ended Jan. 31 were down 15 percent for $138.9 million, compared to $163.9 million in the same period last year.

In response to that kind of news, American Eagle is doing its best to trim its expenses at every turn and some of their ideas aren’t getting a particularly warm welcome.

Against that ugly backdrop, AE appears to believe that they need to do whatever they can to get people back into their stores with open wallets.  Maybe that’s the motivation behind some of the good American Eagle coupon deals I found online.

Finding American Eagle Outfitters’ discount codes isn’t very card.  You can find them with a simple Google search at a variety of sites.  Here are just a few examples of some of the deals I found with just a few seconds of searching.  Some of them are expired now, but they still give you a good idea of just how much you can save with an AE coupon.

RetailMeNot had a code that would get you 20% off any purchase.

Rather-Be-Shopping offered a coupon that would give you free shipping on any online order in excess of $100 and would direct you to some great clearance sales from AE that could save you as much as 70%.

Dealigg had $10 and $40 off coupons that could be used in-store or online.

DealCatcher presented information about the free shipping special as well as other great American Eagle deals.

GosuBlogger made it really easy to find a nice, solid 20% American Eagle coupon.

Getting the idea?  It isn’t all that hard to get a good deal at AE because there are so many strong coupons and coupon code offers available online for anyone who’s willing to look.

If you aren’t toting a Lampsenesque figure and look great in stuff from AE, goou’ll be saving a fortune and you’ll be helping a popular store that’s really feeling the sting of the recession.  

Note:  Unlike some of the other coupon offers upon which I’ve reported, AE doesn’t appear to offer coupons on its own site.  The American Eagle Outfitters website is worth visiting, though, because it has such a strong online “clearance rack”.  You can often find great items for as little as thirty cents on the dollar via the AE Clearance link.