- Title: Forever 21 closing stores in bankruptcy filing shows limits to fast fashion
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 30, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK RESIDENT, KIANA LECOUNTE, SAYING: "Oh, it's like, what, four floors, five? So, four or five floors, it's literally everything. It's so oversaturated in the best way that you can kind of just find everything you need, especially for the ladies. You can buy anything you need for any occasion. And, like, their clearance section is crazy too. So, I just have fun in there. Yeah." VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK RESIDENT, KIANA LECOUNTE, SAYING: "I love it. I love the prices. It's consistent, it's central, and stays open late, so I think it's a... it's a great thing." (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK, RESIDENT, KIANA LECOUNTE, SAYING: "Well, I would be sad (if the store closes). It would be unfortunate, because I would have... I don't know where I would be able to go shopping at 2:00 a.m., you know, in New York, so I would really be sad about it. Yeah, I hope they don't." VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, RESIDENT, DORINA STAMATE, SAYING: "I think it's a good store. We have been in Romania to this store, and I want to see what is the product here in America." VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MONTERREY, MEXICO, RESIDENT, REGINA JIMENEZ, SAYING: "I think it's very expensive for the kind of clothing because it's very low of quality." VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTL FCSTONE FINANCIAL GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST, YOUSEF ABBASI, SAYING: "Where are we for retailers? There are going to be winners and losers at this point. You have to look at names that are taking a more active approach in selling online directly and getting more involved directly. You know, Nike is a great example, right? They just reported earnings last week, put up a solid number despite all the trade war noise. Obviously, Nike is a behemoth relative to Forever 21, but one of their big successes is continuing to push into digital, and to continue to have that direct selling. And I think for any retailer to be successful in the future, they're going to have to push more into direct selling, they're going to have to think outside the box. And I mean, obviously, that the number one thought is using social media influencers and other aspects in advertising, but they almost have to go to that next step at this point too." VARIOUS OF FOREVER 21 STORE EXTERIORS
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 19:20
- Keywords: fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 bankruptcy brick-and-mortar companies sales online sellers like Amazon millennial shoppers Yousef Abbasi INTL FCStone
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYUP8CT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy late on Sunday (September 29), joining a growing list of brick-and-mortar companies that have seen sales hit by the rise of competition from online sellers like Amazon and the changing fashion trends dictated by millennial shoppers.
Forever 21 Inc., the privately held company that helped popularize trendy and cheap clothing, has fallen out of favor with shoppers, in part due to other retailers like Sweden's H&M and Spain's Zara that churn out affordable styles similar to those recently seen on designer runways.
Younger, more environmentally conscious shoppers are also choosing brands that ethically source garments instead of retailers that use cheap fabrics to make T-shirts that are snapped up for $5. Resale sites like thredUp.com, which calls itself the largest online thrift store, are also growing in popularity.
Forever 21, which has 815 stores in 57 countries, said the restructuring will allow it to focus on the profitable core part of its operations and shut stores in some international locations.
It has requested court approval to close up to 178 U.S. stores outside of its major markets.
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