Coordinates	21°50′20″N45°23′29″N
Company type	Private
Company name	Forever 21, Inc.
Company logo
Foundation	1984
Location	Los Angeles, California
Key people	Do Won Chang Founder & CEO Jin Sook Chang, Chief Merchandising Officer Linda Chang Chief Marketing OfficerEsther ChangChief Visual Officer
Num employees	6,000 (2008)
Industry	Apparel
Products	Clothing, Accessories
Revenue	US$1.7 billion (2008)
Homepage	forever21.com

Forever 21 is an American chain of clothing retailers with branches in major cities in the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East offering fashion and accessories for young women and men.

Forever 21's marketing image is based around made-in-the-USA merchandise produced in California. While it sources its designs from hundreds of Southern California suppliers, most items are in fact made in China under the control of US companies. Forever 21’s merchandise does not have uniform specifications, patterns or even sizes; these details vary by supplier.

History

, in Ann Arbor, Michigan]] The chain, originally known as Fashion 21, was intended for mostly middle-aged women. It was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1984 by South Korean Dong-Won Chang and his wife, Jin Sook. The first Fashion 21 store opened on April 21, 1984. It was located at 5637 N. Figueroa St. in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. The store was only . It is still in operation and bears the chain's original name. Trendy designs seen in South Korea were sold and targeted to the Los Angeles Korean-American community. However, people from many other ethnicities and nationalities began noticing the trend-setting fashion designs, and the store became increasingly popular. By the end of the first year, sales had risen from $35,000 to $700,000. Fashion 21 eventually expanded at the rate of a new store every six months and changed the Fashion 21 brand name to Forever 21.

In 1989, Forever 21 opened its 11th store and first store located in a mall, at the Panorama Mall which is in Panorama City, CA. Forever 21 increased its presence by expanding the average size to per store. Since then, Forever 21 has been running specialty stores in major mall locations nationwide. In 1995, the chain opened its first location outside of California, which was at Mall of the Americas in Miami, Florida. Adding new stores every six months, Forever 21 had reached a total of 40 stores by 1997.

Creating its own prototype store in Northridge Fashion Center, Forever 21 has employed its proprietary design concepts to all its stores since then. By this time Forever 21 also increased its average size to per store in prime spots of top tier malls.

Forever 21 has received attention in the media for printing "John 3:16" on the bottom of their trademark yellow bags. A Spokeswoman from Forever 21's LA headquarters said the Biblical quote is a "demonstration of the owners' Christian faith." (A similar practice has been maintained by the In-N-Out Burger chain, which prints the quote "John 3:16" on the bottom of some of its cups.)

Stores

The Forever 21 Retail Inc. owns and operates numerous stores in different formats. The stores are:

Forever 21: main and original store carrying women's and junior's clothing, accessories, swimwear, lingerie, handbags, and shoes.

XXI Forever: flagshipare footage store carrying merchandise from all store formats.

Heritage1981: offshoot format store carrying vintage inspired clothing, accessories, ect.

For Love21: Accessory store.

Forever 21+: formerly named faith 21, is Women's clothing in extended sizes.

Love21: Contemporary line for women

Forever 21 Twist: An exclusive limited edition collection, launching a new theme every 4–6 weeks. Collections so far include Cirque 21, Twist of Punk, Ballet- Tutu Cute, Disco 21, Tres Paris, Rocker Babes, Twisted Wonderland, All Dolled Up, I Love Nerds, Street Chic, and Boy Meets Girl.

Forever 21 girls: formerly HTG81 Kid format equivalent to the Forever 21 adult line.

21Men: Formerly named Heritage1981 Mens, is the mens portion of clothes from the former Heritage1981 mens line.

In 2009,Forever 21 open a first store in the Caribbean at Plaza las Americas mall in Puerto Rico and the Second in Carolina,Puerto Rico.

XXI Forever is the name for the newest flagship stores throughout the country. Latest stores openings are XXI Forever, Forever21 still has openings of the original store, but as a big box, including the 21Men line. Not only XXI stores carry the 21Men clothing line, but also the new store openings of Forever21 do as well.

New flagship store

On January 23, 2010 Forever 21 opened a new store in Cerritos, California. Being one of the largest, the store is designated as the chain's flagship store. A store opened up Louisville Kentucky on February 11th 2011 and it is . Second largest in the world.

Conversions

In early 2009 Forever 21 opened 11 department store sized locations in the United States carrying merchandise for men, women, and children, after assuming the leases of 15 Mervyns, following that chain's bankruptcy filing. A Forever 21 in Manhattan, in Times Square, in the space formerly occupied by the Virgin Megastore, in addition to some adjoining space, was opened June 25, 2010. Later that year, Forever 21 opened a store in Bakersfield, California in the spot that was once held by Gottschalks in the Valley Plaza. On April 2, 2011 Forever 21 opened what was then their largest store in the chain at in Fresno, California at another former Gottschalks location in Fashion Fair Mall. Another Gottschalks conversion in Modesto, California at Vintage Faire Mall, is set to open in August and will be over three levels, making it the largest in the chain.

International

United Kingdom & Ireland

The first European Forever 21 store opened in Birmingham, United Kingdom on Friday 12 Nov 2010. The second opened in Ireland in Dublin's Jervis Shopping Centre on November 13, 2010.

The grand opening of the London flagship store was on Wednesday 27 July 2011 with punters queuing up in the early morning. The store is located near Bond Street underground station and replaces HMV as its newest tenant.

Stores are also due to open in 2011-13 in the following locations:

Westfield Stratford City

Lakeside Shopping Centre - in a store currently occupied by Topshop and Topman, which are relocating

Bluewater - in a store currently occupied by W H Smith

Liverpool One

Buchanan Street, Glasgow - as a key store in a major new retail development

MetroCentre in Gateshead

Europe

On Saturday 30 July, the first Forever 21 store opened in continental Europe at Rue Neuve in Brussels, the store is 3,000 sqm. The second Forever 21 store in Belgium will be opening at Meir in Antwerp at the end of August and will be 4,000 sqm.

A store is going to open at La Maquinista in Barcelona, Spain, in 2011. Two stores are going to open in Vienna, Austria, in 2011 and one in Paris, France on Rivoli Street in 2012.

The expansion into Europe will see Forever 21 compete against retailers more established in the European market such as H&M;, New Look, Next and Topshop/Topman.

Asia

Forever 21 has also opened in several places in Asia, such as New Delhi, India. In July 2010, the first Forever 21 store opens in Manila, Philippines with 2,400 sqm. while the second store opened on April 2011 in Makati with 2,000 sqm. The third store is set to open in Cebu, Philippines on November 2011.

Controversy

In November 2001, factory workers producing clothing for the company called for a store boycott until working conditions and payroll improved. The lawsuit was dropped when Forever 21 paid the workers' back wages. The matter was settled out of court and the company agreed to take steps to ensure that its garments were not made in sweatshops. The store later became the subject of the documentary Made in L.A. which focused on three Latina legal immigrant workers who fight for three years to win basic protections from the retailer. In 2004, under pressure from PETA, Forever 21 agreed to stop selling clothing made with animal fur.

Forever 21 has also been accused of infringing on designs from other fashion brands. Recently, designer Diane von Fürstenberg has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for duplicating her dress designs. Since that time Furstenberg has settled with the company for undisclosed terms. Singer and designer Gwen Stefani has filed a federal lawsuit against the fashion megachain, claiming the retailer illegally ripped off her Harajuku Lovers designs. Designer Anna Sui has also filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 alleging that Forever 21 sold and offered for sale numerous women's fast fashion clothing items bearing a striking similarity to her products featured at the most recent New York Fashion Week shows.

Forever 21 has also come under fire from the South Central Farmers and other California-based activist groups in a campaign known collectively as Never Forever 21. The criticism is based on Forever 21’s involvement in a proposed deal with developer Ralph Horowitz to build a warehouse and distribution center on the land that was formerly the site of the South Central Farm.

Forever 21 has recently been subject of additional controversy, stemming from an interactive billboard installation in Times Square, in New York. It is alleged that Forever 21's advertising agency, space150 and director Nicholaus Goossen, copied a similar piece - created in 2009 - from London by interactive artist Chris O'Shea. These allegations have led to heated exchanges on the Vimeo page showing the work between Goossen and other users, including well-known members of the interactive and new media art communities. Both space150 and Goossen have since apologized publicly on Vimeo.

On August 19, 2010, a security guard at a XXI store at 6801 Hollywood Blvd assaulted and choked a deaf man, Alejandro Rea, for nearly two minutes because he did not stop at the door when the security alarms went off. Rea, who had previously been convicted twice for shoplifting, was seen on surveillance footage leaving with unpaid items and was arrested after the incident. The security guard was suspended for using excessive force. A pedestrian filmed the altercation and uploaded the video to YouTube, prompting responses from various news outlets.

References

External links

Official Forever21 Website

Faster Fashion, Cheaper Chic - New York Times, May 10, 2007

Fast, Cheap and Under Control: The rise of Forever 21 and Downtown's wholesale economy - New Angeles Monthly, December 2007

Forever 21 favors 2 Mag Mile stores - Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2008

Fast-fashion concept fuels Forever 21's expansion - Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2008

Category:Retail companies established in 1984 Category:Clothing retailers of the United States Category:Clothing brands Category:Companies based in Los Angeles, California

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