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It was the embodiment of the American dream. A migrant couple who starts from scratch and
rises to the top of the clothing retail industry. But then, that dream plummets to the ground.
Forever 21 became a fixture in fashion and the wallets of twenty-something-year-olds.
The clothes were fashionable and cheap, and there was a Forever 21 store in almost every
shopping mall you could think of.
They were ALL OVER the world. And, with the latest fashion trends on hand, they seemed
here to stay.
But Forever 21 was a controversial brand. It grew too fast and had dubious practices.
So, it’s safe to say that it rocked the world of fashion, for better or for worse.
And, in 2019, it was the everchanging world of retail that ROCKED Forever 21, so much
so that the company filed for bankruptcy protection.
How did one of the world’s most noticeable fashion brands manage to get to this point?
In this episode of Startup Forensics, we’ll dive into:
How Forever 21 began
The wrong growth and expansion
Controversies
The demise
A look into the future
This is Startup Forensics: Forever 21
How Forever 21 began.
Korean immigrants Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang arrived at the U.S. in the 80’s and
they had a rough time. They worked odd jobs, had very little money and no formal education
to rely on.
Do Won originally had hoped that, having worked at a coffee shop in Korea, his expertise in
this area would be the gateway to success but it wasn’t.
He was stuck as a waiter. But he did notice something.
The people who drove the nicest cars were all in the garment business, he said in an
interview. His instinct told him the way to success was through fashion.
So, in 1984, they scraped up all the money they had, $11 000 in total, and opened a small
clothing store called Fashion 21. The 900 sq. ft. store was directed towards the Korean
American community, its women specifically.
And it worked; the first year raked in $700,000 in revenue.
With such results, they felt confident enough to expand, at a brutally fast pace: a new
store every six months. DON’T forget this.
By 1987, the Changs wanted to give Fashion 21 a twist. Their aim was to evoke an eternal
desire for youth, a wish to remain in what Do Won himself recalled as the most enviable
age: FOREVER 21.
With a new, catchy name, and a profound understanding of their key demographics, Forever 21 did
something that seemed a bit odd. Instead of importing garments at a lower operating cost,
they chose to produce their clothes domestically.
Why?
Because this way, they had the latest fashion on hand quickly, faster than any competitor.
They would base themselves off ideas seen in Korea and produce them practically on site.
Many of their items were very cheap, meant to be bought, worn, and sometimes, discarded
quickly. This is called fast fashion, and we’ll talk about it later.
For now, let’s just say they were well on their way to becoming an empire.
By 1989, Forever 21 had 11 stores all over California. They averaged 5000 sq. ft. in
size and the chain had even opened their first mall-based store.
And by 1999, Forever 21 had 100 stores
all over the U.S., some with 9000 sq. ft. or more of space.
To diversify and capture even more buyers, they introduced Forever XXI in 2001; a new,
high-fashion concept. Flagship stores opened in major cities like L.A., Miami and Chicago
and they were massive, averaging 24 000 sq. ft. in size. ALSO remember this.
All this was fueled by Mrs. Chang’s eye for business.
Mrs. Chang, and her nearly-clairvoyant ability to predict trends, were part of the catalyst
that boosted Forever 21’s upswing, said an article in Business Insider.
And, as I mentioned before, their key strategy was fast fashion. Given that the garments’
intended use wasn’t for the long run, most of Forever 21’s clothing was cheaper and
didn’t have the highest quality.
Now, take into consideration that fast fashion CAN AND HAS BEEN profitable for brands, but
hedging all your bets on it can backfire. Fast fashion requires you to have cheap products
that attract the customers to the company’s other, more expensive products.
So, the loss-making, cheap clothes work as a gateway, as a hook.
To be successful with fast fashion, you need to control variables like growth, supplies,
and production cost.
With regards to this last item: how do you make cheap clothes? The answer is sweatshops. But
we’ll talk about this later.
The Changs knew they had to cater to bigger audiences. So, in 2006, they included the
men’s line, a lingerie line in 2007, and a plus size brand in 2009, as well as makeup
and cosmetics.
In 2010, they opened a 90 000 sq. ft store in Times Square, with a visitor frequency
of 100 000 people per day.
So, it came as no surprise that, by 2015, Forever 21 brought in $4.4 bn in sales and
Do Won and Jin Sook had a net worth of $5.9 bn.
By 2018, there were 800 stores all over the world, and the chain hired a total of almost
43 000 people.
All of this, while they kept the core business in the family, as their two daughters, Linda
and Esther, stepped into the company and helped expand it.
Yes, the company was expanding, at a very high rate.
But Forever 21 didn’t pay attention to one very particular detail: ONLINE BUSINESS.
Their ecommerce was merely 16% of their total sales and this made them VERY vulnerable to
online shopping, which was evidently the future.
Then, there was the company image.
Production costs in the clothing industry have always been controversial. The cheap
end price is only the tip of the iceberg.
In 2001, amidst their early expansion, employees from a Los Angeles factory sued Forever 21,
alleging conditions that more closely resembled a sweatshop than a factory. Amidst the allegations
were altered timecards, long work hours, payment below the minimum wage and, in some cases,
no pay at all.
This case generated a three-year boycott against Forever 21 and, though it was eventually settled
in 2004, the chain’s image took a hit.
Then in 2014, the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) recommended Forever 21 be fined with $100 000 for serious safety
hazards in its stores.
Yes, it was pocket change for them, but the buck didn’t stop there because it wasn’t
only about employee conditions.
Designers claimed Forever 21 copied their work, including heavyweights like Diane von
Fürstenberg, Anna Sui, Gwen Stefani and Trovata. Even Arianna Grande sued them for copying
the style found in her 7 rings video.
Companies like Autodesk and Adobe filed a joint lawsuit against the company for using
illegal, pirated copies of their software. C’mon! You turn in billions. You can at
least pay for ONE license.
Remember all those stores?
Well, in some malls, they had also inflated sales figures to lure in renters. (They’re
facing a lawsuit for this. ANOTHER one, yes).
Also, some of its jewelry products had toxic cadmium in them.
And to top it all off, the company has been accused of pushing a religious agenda.
That’s right. Religion gets into the mix.
You see, the Changs are born-again Christians and have consistently placed religious phrases
in their products, such as Holy and Thank God, Jesus Loves You, etc. Even the verse
John 3:16 is printed in their clothing.
Is that Stone Cold Steve Austin?
Whatever their beliefs, it’s evident that the company didn’t have a clean slate. In
fact, it’s a very messy one. But, did all this help in the company’s demise?
Controversies might’ve not sunk the brand, but they did help in denting an operation
that was already getting out of hand. Forever 21 had expanded too quickly and Mrs. Chang
admits to it.
7 to 47, in less than six years, is a lot for a retail store.
Remember what we said about the complexity of fast fashion? Well, again, here’s what
she had to say.
So, in summary, Forever 21 had too much success?
Well, YES.
They expanded too quickly and didn’t have a good grasp on the entire process. That’s
never a good combination. Added to this, consumer behavior was changing. People don’t go to
shopping malls anymore.
Let’s see some numbers:
In 2018, the company had sales that averaged $3.3 bn. A good number, right?
Not so much when you compare it to 2016, when they had sold $4.4 bn. A loss of $1 bn in
just two years.
And the chain had a lot of stores that were big, shiny, but expensive to operate. Yeah,
they had about 800 of them. Debt was piling high.
So, though they TRIED to avoid bankruptcy by downsizing, it was inevitable.
In 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. This is when an individual or
company has too much debt and can’t pay it, so they ask to reorganize the entire debt
operation.
This basically means another chance to hopefully be profitable again.
And, though at first it shocked the world, some weren’t surprised.
Here’s what Mark Cohen, a business professor, had to say:
But such a big company wasn’t just going to disappear.
The company was given a chance when they applied for protection. And they have acted; in their
efforts to rescue the company, the Changs closed a lot of the stores. A LOT.
350 stores.
They also ceased operations in 40 countries to focus on their most profitable locations
and injected some effort into their e-commerce operations.
Remember that their ecommerce was forgotten? Well, they took notice and worked on it.
Will it be enough? We don’t know.
But it HAS grown from 16% in 2016 to 25% in 2019. Keep in mind that their sales and entire
operation is much smaller now.
They have also ramped up their marketing and created alliances with Amazon and other online
retailers, but somehow it feels as though there’s something missing. They aren’t
too specific on what they are going to do. Perhaps not even they know.
But one thing’s for sure. What made them great is extinct. The days of massive stores
are gone: there’s no need for them.
So this might not only be the tale of Forever 21 but rather of all department stores. Where
are we headed to? What will happen to all these spaces?
Will the future have clothing stores?
Maybe as museums, or as an exotic destination to travel to.
But, for now, all we know is that Forever 21 can stay alive, only if they break away
from the past.