Forever 21 to close all stores, online shop in Japan by late Oct

Probably for the best. I don't think F21 really offered much that the Japanese public needs. They have high visibility, high cost locations for their products, making them higher in price than value. Low quality, disposable fashion isn't good for the environment.

@taj

I agree with you. Forever 21 is a low cost fashion company with expensive locations. Uniqlo is considered low cost and Forever 21 is seen below them. But I highly doubt they do anywhere close to the volume that Uniqlo moves. So the locations are burning a hole in their pockets.

ahh right, expensive locations. sounds logical, I never thought about that. They had one huge shop in the middle of Dotonbori, Osaka and it looked pretty popular but I guess that place costs a boatload of money to rent.

So, it has gone from Forever 21 to Forever Closed. Obviously their marketing strategies and pricing were not able to compete with Uniqlo.

It has everything to do with a brand that is past it's prime, bad marketing strategies, bad quality products, and mismanagement. The fashion world is competitive and Forever 21 just hasn't been able to slug it out. Lets not forget that the brand is potentially filing for Chapter 11 in it's home country... -eyeroll-

Gasp what a tragedy, trendy clothes shop to shut.

Oh, my kid will be disappointed, but hey, there’s GAP and H&M and Uniqlo, just have to make well with it.

But thanks to companies like Amazon, you are seeing a slow death and a sad one of retail. In the US, Malls in closing, iconic shops like Tower Records, Toys “R” Us and Payless are a growing list of giants too many to count that once ruled the nation and are all gone. I understand online shopping is convenient, but I personally want to touch, see, try one or listen to a product before buying it. F21 especially back in the day was groundbreaking for a number of reasons, for one, the President was a Korean Immigrant that came to the US with next to nothing and had a family, worked his butt off and wanted to be successful and soon opened his first shop which was called “Fashion 21” which was or I think is still in business today. Only time will tell if more retail outlets will be phasing out and becoming extinct or is this just a temporary thing.

They didn't keep up with the fast changing fashion trend of the Japanese market. They just stuck with the same fashion without any regard with what is in fashion at the time.

no that is the effect not the cause which is people using internet shopping instead of supporting brick and mortar stores.

I disagree.

With Uniqlo being domestic, affordable, and high quality, no wonder.

papigiulioSep. 25  05:22 pm JST ahh right, expensive locations. sounds logical, I never thought about that.

Uniqlo has stores in high rent districts as well. It's a matter of sales volume. Forever21 simply wasn't selling enough. Never been in a Japanese branch, but those in the U.S., mostly in malls, which are also dying, are twardy and not in a good sense.

A lot of these shops that come to Japan from the U.S. got the idea to open here because of the high amount of Japanese tourists visiting them. Once they move here though, they lose their luster and prices are high compared to their U.S. counterpart. You can say this also about Old Navy, Krispy Kreme, Taco Bell, Hollister, etc. H&M seems to be going strong actually due to having a large discount section.

They're shutting shop in Hong Kong too. The demonstrations were the last straw.

Moving into the future Forever21 will be dropshipping through Aliexpress.

Not quite forever, huh? My better half used to love going there but she is well past 21 and never talks about that store now.

I think F21 should follow what other brands are doing, they should have a lower price items which will be offered every seasons, we should not forget the fast rising brand competitions among the numerous brands which was offered in the market. Marketing strategy shoul be improved as well as product mix or assortnents.

If a brand succeeds it is thought of as "taking Japanese culture into account" and doing things that they would not do otherwise. Nonsense.

Starbucks fired two trading houses and a boatload of consultants because they advised against a non-smoking coffee shop, light colored interiors, take out drinks, and --OMG--tumblers. The told Starbucks that they didn't understand Japan.

Well, Afternoon Tea got it the first time, went against the "Japan experts" and brought a great idea to Japan and made it work. Not by changing it, but by providing a need. In the end, Starbuck took over, and forced the typical Japanese coffee shops to adjust.

Old Navy, Krispy Kreme, Taco Bell, Hollister, etc. H&M, and now Forever 21, were undoubtedly advised on the Japanese market by "market specialists" which loosens all the spare change they company can come up with, and ends up being the fastest road to downfall.

Remember, Uniqlo used to sell carrots and a few years ago, and was close to bankruptcy until Yanai-san got himself some help.

Remember, Uniqlo used to sell carrots

Of more use to a hungry person than a T-shirt ; )

Good ! Fast fashion is a poison to the world. People need to be more responsible and stop bying cheap clothes constantly. And when you think "I don't have anything to wear", it really means "I don't want to wear what I have". Change your habits!