Latest news with #Forever21
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bankrupt retailer sends urgent message after mass store closures
It's a pretty rough time to be in retail. On the one hand, it seems like most every small retailer is being gobbled up by a larger competitor. Related: Amazon makes a harsh decision amid concerning customer trend On the large, corporate side of things, however, things aren't any simpler. Bigger retail companies are grappling with a variety of problems that are now common among most stores around the U.S. Some of these include crushing levels of inventory shrink (the industry term for theft and other losses), changing customer preferences, and a race to the bottom for prices. This is especially difficult when shoppers expect nearly-instant and free shipping on everything -- a complicated effort when supply chains are either tied up or tariffs are taking their toll on global inventory. No matter which way you slice it, retail is a hard business to be in. And that's especially the case for many legacy mall retailers, who once enjoyed relative prowess in the U.S. shopping arena. What was once considered the gold standard for retail -- that is, having a large brick and mortar presence in shopping malls around the country -- has now become something more of a death knell. Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Across the country, many retailers that depend on malls for business are finding survival an increasingly uphill battle. With the exception of a few luxury malls located in particularly wealthy urban areas, the overarching trend across the country is that indoor shopping malls are on a downward trajectory. More closings: Popular local Dairy Queen rival suddenly closing, no bankruptcyAnother big Mexican chain closing down restaurant, no bankruptcyUPS suddenly closing more stores amid chaotic new change, layoffsPopular fast-food burger chain closes all restaurants in key area Popularity has waned for a variety of reasons. It's true that a lot more shoppers prefer to find products online, where things are often cheaper and more selection abounds. But it's also just an increasingly unappealing prospect to trudge through an indoor shopping mall in search of everything from furniture to formalwear. In the 1980s and 1990s, at the height of the indoor shopping mall, the average U.S. consumer spent 12 hours per month inside of one. Now, that number has dramatically dwindled, as it's easier to find products either online or at discount stores closer to home. Some of the largest mall retailers are the most vulnerable amidst changing consumer behavior. Forever 21, an iconic fast fashion store clustered mostly in and around shopping malls, is one such brand. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in six years in March 2025. After it was unable to find a buyer, its operating parent company, F21 OpCo, said it would begin closing down all 354 of its leased U.S. stores by May 2025. Related: Another giant cosmetics brand closing store unexpectedly Now, however, Forever 21 has issued an update on social media, indicating things may not be completely over for the brand. "Hey Forever 21 Fam," Forever 21's official Instagram wrote in a post. "We know there's been some buzz, and we want to clear things up. Forever21 isn't going anywhere and we are still committed to bringing you the styles you love. Right now, we're evolving, refreshing and building what's next." "We get that change can feel unexpected," the post continued, "but we're excited for what's ahead, and we'll be sharing more with you soon. Thanks for sticking with us, you're the heart of everything we do." Forever 21's official website contains some information about the ongoing bankruptcy process. "Decisions about which stores will ultimately close are ongoing, pending further discussions with landlords and potential buyers," the site reads. Related: Troubled retailer puts 100s of stores at risk after drastic move The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Cosmopolitan
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Behold, the Best Festival Outfits at NYC's 2025 Governors Ball
At this year's Governors Ball music festival in New York's Flushing Meadows Corona Park, artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Hozier, and Tyler, the Creator headlined its 15th anniversary and brought fans together in the name of live music. Folks from all walks of life trekked their way through the grounds to catch their favorite artists' sets, and a constant we picked up on all weekend was the intricacies of their attire. Because let's be real: fashion fiends and musicheads are the final bosses of festival season. Whether they were decked out in Doc Martens and sequinned hot shorts to pay homage to O-Rod or rocked Golf Le Fleur to awaken their inner CHROMAKOPIA, fans did not come to play with their looks this year. ICYMI, festival fashion has long evolved from the bohemian chic flower crown era. Attendees pulled out their favorite thrift finds and even put in the work to make their own looks. Some even centered their outfits around a singular beauty product, which made for a wildly impressive turnout. Naturally, we set up shop on Gov Ball's festival grounds and caught up with some of music's best-dressed superfans as we lensed them on Instax film. Spoiler alert: they did not disappoint, so scroll through and get ready to screenshot inspiration for your festival season moodboard. 'The whole group went with more 90s influences just to kind of match Tyler, the Creator's vibe. My sister's a nail artist and she did them for free. They're junk inspired.' 'Kind of a festival fairy vibe. Woodsy, festival, fairy, and black.' 'So, this tank is from the Goodwill bins. It was, like, 50 cents. Not even. The skirt is from when I was a teenager, I think it's old Forever 21, and my dad got me these sunglasses.' 'Tyla! I'm South African, like my heritage—my grandmother was born in Port Elizabeth. My cousin actually introduced me to Tyla, and so I've been literally in love with her ever since. Then she blew up, so one of the main reasons I came to Gov Ball was to see her, but there's so many other artists I love. I decided to base my outfit on her.' 'I wanted to be a mermaid. NYX came out with their beautiful butter highlighters, and I was like, You know what? I love this bluish green one. I brought it with me because I loved it that much. I was like, yep, that's gonna be my inspiration.' 'Tyler, the Creator and honestly, The Wasia Project. It was so good and I'm so dumb—I just realized that the pianist is one of the guys in Heartstopper. I lost my shit, bro.' 'Stevie Nicks, I love her. I just like this rebellious kind of look, and this dress is from a thrift in Brazil.' 'I know she's a new, breaking artist, and I loved her first song, 'Water.' After that, I'd always wanted to follow her, and this is my first concert seeing her.' 'Actually, all of it is thrifted, so I'm not exactly sure where it is all from. But, mostly thrift shops around Brooklyn.' 'Honestly, my inspiration was something airy, something comfortable, something that just represents me as a person. The cheetah print is something fun, but also still swaggy and chill.' 'I made my waist chains, but this entire outfit was planned literally two hours before I left because I don't like buying new clothes. So, I just pulled whatever I already had.' 'I couldn't really find a country outfit to go for Role Model, so I went out on a whim, found these overalls at Target, and it just worked. The hat's from my boyfriend's house, the belt's from Urban Outfitters, and the Converse are from... Converse!' Shot on Instax Film. Cameras and Film Provided by Fujifilm. Additional Reporting and production by Tamara Fuentes, Corinne Bickel, and Emily Adar. Sam is an assistant news editor at Cosmo, covering all things pop culture, entertainment, and celebrity news. She previously covered those same topics along with health, lifestyle, and beauty at Seventeen. When she isn't catching a concert or live-tweeting awards shows, you can likely find her judging DJ sets at parties.
Metro
09-06-2025
- Business
- Metro
Popular clothing retailer to close almost 200 more stores in 2025
Another popular clothing retailer is set to close nearly 200 locations in the US this year. Torrid, which sells plus-size women's apparel, plans to shutter up to 180 stores 'to better align our current demand and sales channels', according to the company's report for the first quarter of 2025. Digital sales have grown to represent almost 70% if Torrid's total demand from customers, according to CEO Lisa Harper. 'We're accelerating our transformation to a more digitally-led business, which includes optimizing our retail footprint,' stated Harper on Thursday. 'We now plan to close up to 180 underperforming stores this year—allowing us to reduce fixed costs and reinvest in areas that drive long-term growth, including customer acquisition and omnichannel enhancements.' Torrid plans to lean on its customer base, of which 95% are enrolled in its loyalty program, to work towards a 'digital transformation' aimed at growing its revenue. Harper added that the report for the quarter ending on May 3 shows 'results in line with expectations', including $266million in net sales. Torrid is launching Lovesick and Studio Luxe, and projects that the sub-brands will represent almost one-third of its business by next year. 'Our sub-brand strategy is delivering positive results, exceeding expectations and helping us reach new and younger customers while driving higher margin sales,' Harper stated. More Trending Torrid, which makes apparel for women sizes 10 to 30, has long been an American mall staple. The company has not disclosed which locations are on the chopping block this year. Torrid's upcoming closures come after once-reigning fast fashion clothing brand Forever 21 closed the last of its brick-and-mortar in the US early May. Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy for the second time in six years in March and placed part of the blame on online retailers like Shein, Temu and Amazon that until recently utilized the 'de minimis exemption' to avoid paying tariffs on imported goods under $800. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Six people killed after plane crashes into Pacific Ocean near San Diego MORE: Two dead after gunman opens fire outside Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas MORE: Popular discount store announces another shop closure in blow to high street
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Popular women's retailer closing 30% of its stores
Popular women's retailer closing 30% of its stores originally appeared on TheStreet. For those of us old enough to have been shopping at malls for decades, it's been awfully strange to watch retailers that have been around forever closing their doors permanently. Perhaps one of the strangest to see go was Forever21, the fast-fashion brand once so popular that people stood in long lines at their retail stores to snap up too-cheap-to-believe deals. 💵💰💰💵 But the company was eventually overtaken by similar low-cost online retailers like Shein and Temu, and eventually had to admit defeat after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice. It closed the last of its physical locations at the beginning of May, vanishing into the ether as if it never is another mall staple that's been around seemingly forever. But as fewer people flock to department stores to buy clothing and home goods in favor of buying them online or from discount stores like Home Goods, Macy's has been forced to downsize. The company announced in January that it would close 66 of its locations this year as part of a plan to close 150 "underproductive stores" through 2026. So, while it's still afloat, it's obvious that it's struggling in the current climate. You may also see specialty stores like Volcom, Billabong, and Quicksilver disappear from your local mall soon. Parent company Liberated Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February and plans to close 100 locations, although the brands themselves will live on thanks to a well-timed save from an unnamed buyer. Now, another mall staple has announced that it will make major cuts to its locations, which means it may vanish from your local mall soon. Torrid, the plus-sized women's clothing store founded in 2001, announced during its Q1 earnings call that it was planning to downsize its retail footprint due to customer preference for online shopping. 'Digital continues to be our customers' preferred channel, now approaching 70% of total demand," CEO Lisa Harper said during the call. "We're accelerating our transformation to a more digitally-led business, which includes optimizing our retail footprint."Harper went on to say that Torrid will close up to 180 underperforming stores this year, allowing the business to "reduce fixed costs and reinvest in areas that drive long-term growth, including customer acquisition and omnichannel enhancements." The fashion retailer currently operates 632 locations. The majority of the store closures are likely to happen in Q4, according to William Blair analysts Dylan Carden and Anna Linscott in talks with RetailDive. The company also reported a drop in net sales of 5% year over year and a net income drop of more than half, which may also be motivating this move. Torrid, however, sounds prepared to be resilient. "Leveraging the deep connection with our existing customers, of which 95% are engaged in our loyalty program, combined with strategic and targeted acquisition and retention efforts, this digital transformation will position us for efficient and accelerated top and bottom-line growth," Harper said during the earnings call. Harper also said that Torrid plans to refresh 135 stores in Q3, which she called 'low-capital investments with an expected fast return.' Despite only making up a quarter of its sales, Harper told analysts that its brick-and-mortar locations still played an important role for the brand. Stores 'serve as community hubs and immersive brand-building experiences, introducing customers to our brand and sub-brands, offering the dressing room experience, and acting as service centers for purchases made online or in stores,' she said. 'Most importantly, our passionate sales associates bring the brand to life, delivering personalized service that deepens customer connection and drives long-term loyalty.'Popular women's retailer closing 30% of its stores first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
07-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
AI search's user experience may be the best it'll ever get, says one founder
By day, Lily Clifford is the CEO and founder of Rime Labs. The startup creates the voice on the other end of the line when you call to order from restaurants like Domino's or Wingstop. Rime trains AI models to create voices with specific regional accents, tones, and other elements that make them easier to converse with. Clifford also uses AI in her daily life, especially in lieu of search engines, she told Business Insider. Instead of pulling up a search engine when she has a question, Clifford usually turns to generative AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. She said the experience reminds her of using Google or other search engines in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That's when she thinks the user experience was at its prime. "My hot take here is these applications might be the best that they ever will be," she said. Search engines used to be simpler, Clifford said. There were far fewer ads and sponsored results. And optimizing webpages to get more clicks — a practice known as SEO — was in its infancy. Those developments spawned new businesses and became features of the modern internet. But Clifford said search results have also gotten worse for users. It's common to see multiple sponsored results above more relevant ones in a search, for instance. AI chatbots, meanwhile, haven't gone through the same evolution — yet. Companies and individuals are still experimenting with usinggenerative AI for lots of tasks, from writing emails to creating images for advertising campaigns. Many people, like Clifford, use AI as a replacement for search engines. Ask AI a question, and it will often give you an answer in just a few sentences. For some, that's more appealing than clicking through several results from a search engine until you find the information that you're looking for. AI search results can also give users contradictory or incorrect information, though, creating a potential downside to the quick-and-easy answers. Still, Clifford noticed the user experience gap between the chatbots and search engines during a recent trip to Milan, she said. While there, she used an AI chatbot to look for a local place to buy a silk blouse. The chatbot pointed her toward a local seamstress who sold custom blouses through Instagram. "It wasn't like 'Go to Forever 21,' which is probably what would've happened if I typed it into Google," she said. "It was totally wild and fun to use." But, Clifford thinks it's a matter of time before AI chatbots go the way of the search engines before them. Some companies with big investments in generative AI search tools are taking steps in that direction. Last month, Google said it would expand its use of ads in some of the AI Overviews that appear at the top of its search results, for example. And some marketing experts now offer help with " answer engine optimization," or AEO.
