Forever 21 moved closer to shuttering its stores forever.
The struggling mall mainstay — which sells $7 t-shirts, $12 dresses and $25 sneakers — is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy after efforts to find a buyer have floundered, according to Bloomberg.
With 350 locations, the fast-fashion brand is owned by licensing firm Authentic Brands Group, while the stores, e-commerce and manufacturing operations are run by an entity called F21 OpCo.
The latter is a unit of Catalyst Brands, which also runs JCPenney, Aeropostale, and Eddie Bauer, among other faded retailers.
Forever 21, which at its height operated more than 500 locations in the US and at least 800 worldwide, is preparing to shutter all 350 stores as part of a bankruptcy filing in the coming days, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
It would be the second time in six years that the 41 year-old company files for bankruptcy protection as it faces stiff competition from Chinese competitors Temu and Shein among others.
In 2020, the retailer was acquired for $81 million by its largest mall landlords, a consortium composed of Simon Property Group, Brookfield and ABG, run by Jamie Salter.
Sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post that Salter still believes the brand can go head-to-head with Chinese fast-fashion darlings Temu and Shein by hiring a new design team and signing manufacturing deals that will speed up production.
Salter is in talks with factories overseas, the source added.
One scenario being discussed by the stakeholders would keep about 100 stores open in “high customer traffic locations,” the insider said.
Another source, who is not involved in the talks, said that 100 stores “is an inefficient number, because it is expensive to source your products below a low number of locations.”
ABG declined to comment.
In 2023, Shein joined the ownership group of Forever 21.
