This story first appeared on Modern Retail, Glossy’s sister publication covering retail’s transformation.
Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 continues to explore restructuring options, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The company is reportedly looking for help getting out of some store leases, as well as getting a new loan, in an effort to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
Forever 21’s trouble stems from its large-format store strategy: As of last year, Forever 21 has more than 815 stores in 57 countries. Its expensive international operational business has been a suck on resources, according to employees, and in the U.S., Forever 21’s stores are largely mall-bound: Mall retail group Macerich said that Forever 21 was its second-largest tenant in 2018, accounting for 2.5% of real estate. In 2017, even as big, sprawling stores and malls were facing restructuring and closures, rather than open smaller-format stores, Forever 21 instead doubled down on retail by opening a series of F21 Red Stores. These stores offer even cheaper prices than Forever 21, which sells $5 T-shirts and $15 jeans. Please visit Modern Retail for the full story.
