Some thoughts of Forever 21
Forever 21
Forever 21 is a chain of clothing retailers throughout the United States and Canada offering inexpensive, trendy fashions and accessories for young women and men. Most of the retailer’s apparel is private label and made in Southern California. 3
It’s telling that Forever 21 is growing aggressively, even in this crappy economy. It gives the masses what they want: cheap, stylish clothes. In addition, this news signals the end of the era when only department stores could be mall anchors. Department stores have largely fallen out of favor, especially among teens. They’re huge and stodgy and not fun or streamlined in the way that Forever 21 is. Forever 21, unlike department stores, has an ever-changing stock of trendy merchandise, young employees, cheap prices, and a hip image. And Forever 21 is friendly to young people, in the sense that teens can hang out , gab as loudly as they want, and not be thrown out. 2
Want more? Then get some from Learn-About-swicki.eurekster.com/Forever 21
Forever XXI stores are larger than classic Forever 21 shops and offer men’s and women’s fashions as well as lingerie, footwear, cosmetic items, and other accessories. Heritage 1981 and Gadzooks are also a part of the Forever 21 chain. 6
You don’t have to be 21 or older to shop at Forever 21’s stores — you just need your wallet. The stores offer cheap and chic fashions and accessories for women and junior girls. Its trendy clothes are priced 2% lower than its competitors. Most of the retailer’s apparel is private label and made in Southern California. Forever XXI stores are larger than classic Forever 21 shops and offer men’s and women’s fashions, as well as lingerie, footwear, cosmetic items, and other accessories. Owner and CEO Don Chang and his wife founded the company as Fashion 21 in 1984. 1
Creating its own prototype store in Northridge Fashion Center, Forever 21 has employed its proprietary design concepts to all its stores since. By this time Forever 21 also increased its average size to 9,000?square feet (840?m?) per store in prime spots of top tier malls. 5
Drastically expanding the number of Forever 21 stores nationally, Forever 21 opened XXI flagship stores in Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Canada. The average size of XXI venues are average of 24,000?square feet (2,200?m?). Since 2002, Forever 21 has been ranked as one of the 50 largest privately held companies in Los Angeles. In 2005, Forever 21 was operating over 355 locations nationwide with the brands Forever 21, Forever XXI, For Love 21, and Gadzooks. In July 2006, Forever 21 opened its new flagship store in Pasadena, California. At 40,000?square feet (3,700?m?) and two levels, it’s one of Forever 21’s largest locations to date. Its numerous shop-in-shop concepts demonstrates the continuing strength of boutique and specialty retailing over the department or megastore format. 7
In 1989, Forever 21 opened its 11th store and the first store located in a mall. Forever 21 increased its presence by expanding the average size to 5,000?square feet (460?m?) per store. Since then, Forever 21 has been running speciality stores in major mall locations nationwide. In 1995, the company expanded their chain to Florida and opened a store in Miami’s Mall of the Americas, this location was the first store outside of California. 4
Want more from Learn-About-swicki.eurekster.com/Forever 21
