Among the many unusual aspects of American Apparel’s business was that the company manufactured its clothing in the U.S. — and in Southern California, rather than a part of the country where labor and real estate is less costly. But now that the American Apparel brand has been bought by Canada’s Gildan, what’s to become of the company’s factories, which employ thousands of workers?

The Wall Street Journal reports that there is at least one potential buyer for the company’s Garden Grove, CA, knitting and dyeing operation: textile company Broncs Inc.

According to American Apparel’s newest CEO, multiple companies were interested in the facility, and the winner was chosen because it proposed to re-open it for knitting and dyeing and potentially re-hire the people who worked there.

“In the end, it was most appropriate to sell it to someone who wanted to keep those jobs, and that’s how the deal got baked,” CEO Chelsea Grayson told the Wall Street Journal.

American Apparel employs a total of 3,500 people in a city that’s about to raise its minimum wage to $15. Montreal-based Gildan, which manufacturers most of its apparel outside of North America, has shown zero interest in continuing to make clothes in the Los Angeles area.

The sale to Gildan was approved by the bankruptcy judge today, and now deals for the rest of the company’s former t-shirt empire will proceed.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.