Forever 21 Files for Bankruptcy - YouLookFab Forum

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Forever 21 Files for Bankruptcy

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

FYI:

https://therising.co/2019/10/0.....ainability

I think the article is pushing their lack of sustainability a little hard as the only reason they went bankrupt. I wouldn't believe it too much. There are many, many reasons that lead to the bankruptcy of a chain.

That said, it's interesting. Second chain to go bankrupt this year - Barneys a couple of months a go, and at the opposite side of the fashion retail continuum. I haven't bought an item from either chain, actually.

Shopping

25 replies

Latest reply was from Suzanne (ambergreen)

Anonymous

F21 - well, I can't say I'm sorry about this closure. Articles posted last week on various sites had lots of interesting things to say about that chain .

anchie

Veteran

They closed their only shop here few months ago and I was wondering if they are in trouble. It was a big store in prime location, and it is still unoccupied.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I don't think it's sustainability. I think it's that their stores are always a trainwreck. What I've learned in recent months, from a couple of theatre friends who have worked there, is that the store's business structure is extremely disorganized. One friend was managing the store, and trying to train the other employees in keeping things organized and running smoothly - but she's not paid or titled as the manager, and there's actually no formal training structure in place for the sales staff.

I've bought cami tops there over the years for dance, and they lasted a very long time, because I'm very careful about laundering. But I haven't been in a F21 in a couple of years, because no matter the location, it always looks like an army of toddlers has marched through, then returned to loot what was left. It drives me bats to go there for a basic black or white tee or tank or cami, and they're scattered all over the store and I can't find my size. And sales staff can't find them, either.

FYI, this is also my shopping experience with H&M, and with Zara, in Atlanta. Again, haven't stopped in in a few years. (Whereas Zara in Canada is always a beautiful visual experience)

rachylou

Veteran

Yeah, no. I don’t think it was the democratisation of fashion that did it. The quality wasn’t that bad. Or wasn’t always. They’re a relatively old company, and I have stuff from F21 from 30 years ago that’s just fine.

I think it’s sustainability in the sense that endless consumption is unneeded, unworthy, and also: boring.

I also think it’s sustainability in the sense that Gen Z does not have secure employment for living wages. Their money as far as I can tell does not stretch to cover student debt and rent on the whole. I don’t know many, if any, Zs who can really afford to buy a tee from Walmart every week, even without the landfill problem.

And the thing is, the world is making as much as it ever has. Productivity itself is up. If you ask me, we have reached that ideal of a life of luxury for everyone - the only problem is, we don’t want to pay people to not work. And we don’t want to not work as individuals. That’s not human nature. I just had this conversation with a Z this past week about subsistence farming possibly being more plausible in terms of peoples’ nature. About how a socioeconomy this complex is daunting. At the bakery we pay the most for people to play with stickers - not even stickers, but what colours they’ll be. But we only need a couple of new stickers once a year. And how do you spend your whole life on sticker colours anyways? And if you haven’t, do we want to hire you, because what experience do you have?

I think there are a lot of conflicting impulses dismantling society and the economy.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

Wow, so many stores going under. Charming Charlie went out in August, and Dress Barn is closing as of December 31.

Anonymous

La BD - you must have been lucky with whichever Zara you saw here in Canada. I've been in many ,and they are utter gong shows.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh wow. That’s sad. Even Dress Barn.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Very interesting. Like LaBD I avoided their stores because shopping there was unpleasant. But I’m not really their demographic anyway.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I literally just posted a link on Inge's thread related to this. I shed no tears for Forever 21, but I don't wish the collapse of the entire retail industry. But things do evolve and the F21 mentallity and business practices were egregious.

Gigi

Veteran

I'm another one who is not sad to see F21 go. I've read that they basically steal people's designs and sell them as their own.

I can't stand going in F21 either. The music is blasting loud enough to give you a headache within 5 minutes. And as others have said, there is no rhyme or reason to where stuff is in the store, no organized plan. And when you're dealing with a huge F21 (ours is two humongous floors), you don't have time to walk all over the store trying to find stuff.

Style Fan

Veteran

I am not surprised to hear this. I have never stepped into a F21. The look of the store is not inviting at all.

kkards

Veteran

Honestly theses stores gave me a headache...so messy and disorganized. As an outsider looking in...I’d say they had weak inventory practices and running an on going retail business is much different from running one that is growing exponentially every year.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Not terribly surprising. But this is going to leave a big two-story gaping hole in the nearest mall, which has an empty Lord & Taylor (that I can’t walk past without being terribly sad, as it also served as the staging area after five local journalists were shot to death last year across the street), and has now lost JCrew, Banana Republic and Gap. Plus the Nordstrom looks a little less-populated every time I walk in. The only thriving places in there seem to be the Apple store and the movie theaters. Oh and Chipotle. B&M retail seems to be really hurting.

RobinF

Veteran

Makes you wonder about the future of retail malls. They seem to have been struggling for years but these cheaper chains were holding them up, maybe not now. I hadn't heard about Charming Charlie's and Dress Barn. I don't do a lot of mall shopping but I would be sad to see them go.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Hadn't heard about Charming Charlie. Didn't know they went beyond Florida anyway.

This lists others that have gone under, including many I didn't know about. It also says Dollar Store, 7-Eleven, and others are expanding. https://finance.yahoo.com/news.....27470.html

I went into Forever 21 rarely, but the things I got are still with me and hold up well. The mess in the stores wouldn't bother me except that there seemed to be no correspondence between what was in the store and what was online--no way to do a search, narrow it down to a few options, and go try them on to choose a favorite. German stores also don't seem to have much connection to their websites, but it's that way throughout the whole country, by law, so it isn't so much of a liability.

rachylou

Veteran

Walked the dog yesterday to the shops. When I was little, we had a children’s clothing, bakery, hardware, pharmacy, two gas stations, bank, grocery... a full complement. Now it’s the grocery (which went bankrupt and got sold to Safeway), one gas station, and the rest is coffee, clothes, pizza and gyms - several of each. They want to close our post office. Ok there’s a little more... but for example, some dude opened up a THIRD rug shop. There’s something wrong there when you think about it.

Helena

Veteran

I've never had any luck at Forever 21. My daughter, on the other hand, is devastated! I wonder if this is a sign of things to come ... the trendy, fast fashion cycle is so unrealistically accelerated that people aren't even bothering ...?

Anonymous

I can't remember last time I went in a F21- not my demographic! I don't think the main issue with them is sustainability though- as places like Target and Walmart are booming. Guessing it's more a oversaturation of shopping, and stuff, and sales in general. We see the result of overconsumption and don't want to contribute to it.

Marilyn

Veteran

F21 announced last week that they were closing all Canadian stores adding themselves to the list of retailers who came to Canada then turned around and left again. They admit that they expanded too quickly. I think the last one to go was Express and J Crew is not far behind. I talked to a JC employee who worked at the Ottawa store before it closed last year and he said they're on their way out of Canada.....they're just doing it slowly.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/busine.....-1.5302554

Marilyn

Veteran

LisaP said...."La BD - you must have been lucky with whichever Zara you saw here in Canada. I've been in many ,and they are utter gong shows."

LOL I was going to say the same thing. I take a deep breath before venturing into a Zara and I don't go in very often.

Christina F.

Veteran

I agree with those above who couldn't stand even stepping into the store Just one look at all that mess and chaos and noise sent me packing!
(Old Navy is the same way around here, but H&M is not so bad... I don't go to Zara much since their clothes never appeal to me in store).

I did have a wool midi skirt, of all things, that I got there in the mid-00's and wore for years. That was the only item I ever got there that never fell apart and made it a long time through size changes.

BrieN

Veteran

F21 expanded into 40 additional countries in 6 years. That is incredibly aggressive, and probably in those six years online shopping took over. Online shopping at F21 is really hard as there are so so so many items. At least they let you return things now for refunds.
I always liked Forever 21 because my daughter and all her friends with all different body shapes and sizes could shop there and they would all find cute things that fit them. Clothes for every body. And that was before it was cool.

nuancedream

Veteran

I went into Forever 21 once and vowed never to go back. Chaos does not a pleasant shopping experience make. Also, I'm well out of the age range for their target demographic. It's ironic that Forever 21, a shopping mall based chain that helped popularize fast fashion, moved too slow for a new generation of younger customers who now have more options at trendy online sites.

Becky

BrieN, I am with you on the aggressive expansion. I think the CEO of F21 even admitted that in an interview that they expanded a little too fast.

I have shopped at F21 in the past, not anymore. My experience was always pretty good. The store is not organized by categories so all kinds of things are everywhere. I never went in with a specific item in mind so it didn't bother me. As to quality, yeah, the majority of the things are not good quality. I had to sift through a ton to find something of decent quality and it usually holds up. I am a budget shopper by habit. The 20-something me did once find a F21 shirt I liked and didn't buy it because I thought it was too expensive... Silly me

Charming Charlie closing is a surprise though. I liked their earrings a lot.

Suzanne (ambergreen)

Veteran

The reasons for these closures can be complex, as noted -- bad business decisions, shifting competitive climate, older businesses trying to operate under new conditions, changing customer preferences...it's a wonder that more stores aren't wobbling.

I see that some posters here mentioned that F21 quality has actually been pretty good for the price, and that's my feeling as well, so I'm :/ about them going away -- although they might not. Other chains have been revived from the formerly almost dead...

Over the decades I've found some really good items there, and though I've been well out of the target demographic for a long time, I remain junior-size (:P), so they have stayed on my list of turned stones. I hear the anguish about their B&M experience for sure, but I find most wardrobe store shopping off-putting anymore and spend very little time at it!