After filing for bankruptcy in September, Forever 21 stores across the nation are closing their doors.
The fact that many of their stores are closing is disappointing to many students.
“I think that Forever 21 was the leader in fast fashion. So the fact that they are the ones declining first is unfortunate because they’re the ones that started it.” said Olivia Rybus, a sophomore business administration major.
According to some critics, Forever 21 opened more stores than the company can handle, while others say that they should have shifted their focus to online shopping sooner. In addition, an increase in e-commerce has led to a decrease in sales at physical stores.
Despite the growing trend of online shopping, some students still prefer to buy their clothes at physical locations.
“I don’t online shop at all and when I do, it’s never a success," Camilia Rowan, a sophomore business major said. "I just like to try on [clothes] because I’m too lazy to return [clothes online].”
According to CNN, Forever 21 has 549 stores in the US, and leases nearly all of the store locations, which costs the company $450 million annually. Additionally, many stores are located in malls, which have seen a decline of foot traffic, potentially contributing to the decrease of Forever 21 sales.
Anthony Dukes, the chair of Marshall’s Department of Marketing, said retailers have typically been able to sustain themselves by using a combination of physical and online stores.
“Other brands have used brick and mortar as a way to showcase styles and allow people to try on what they’re about to buy,” said Dukes. "[They] have been sustained by using a mixture of physical and online.”
Dukes said fashion brands need to offer consumers something unique in order to stay sustained in the fashion industry.
“Going forward, I think Forever 21 or anybody else needs to offer something that consumers like," said Dukes. "There’s a lot of competition in the fashion industry so they need to offer something else that someone’s not offering.”
All Forever 21 Canadian stores are planned to close by the end of November 2019 while all stores in the US are set to remain open until the end of 2020.