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Forever 21

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Forever 21, Inc.
Company typePrivately Held Company
IndustryApparel
Founded1984
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, USA 90057[1]
Key people
Do Won (Don) Chang, CEO
ProductsClothing, Accessories
RevenueIncrease 1.3 billion $ (2007) [2]
Websitewww.forever21.com

Forever 21 is a chain of clothing retailers throughout the United States, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China offering fashion and accessories for young women and men. Most of the retailer's apparel is private label and made in Southern California.[3]

History

File:Forever21 1984.jpg
Fashion 21 in Los Angeles, California.
File:Forever21 2001.jpg
Forever XXI in Willowbend, Plano, Texas.
File:Forever21 2005.jpg
Forever 21 in One Powell, San Francisco, California.
File:Forever21 2006.jpg
Forever 21 in Old Town, Pasadena, California.

1984~1999

The chain, originally known as Fashion 21, was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1984 by Korean-American Do-Won Chang and his wife, Jin-Sook. While the first store, still located at 5637 N. Figueroa St. in Los Angeles was only 900 square feet. 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 the first store located in a mall. Forever 21 has multiplied its presence by expanding the average size to 5,000 square feet per store. Since then, Forever 21 has been running speciality stores in major mall locations nationwide. In 1995, the company expanded their chain to Florida and opened a store in Miami's Mall of the Americas, this location was the first store outside of California.[4] 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. By this time Forever 21 also increased its average size to 9,000 square feet per store in prime spots of top tier malls.

2000~2006

Drastically expanding the number of Forever 21 stores nationally, Forever 21 has opened XXI flagship stores in Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Canada. The average size of XXI venues are average of 24,000 square feet. Since 2002, Forever 21 has been ranked as one of the 50 largest privately held companies in Los Angeles. In 2005, Forever 21 was operating over 355 locations nationwide with the brands Forever 21, Forever XXI, For Love 21, and Gadzooks. In July 2006, Forever 21 opened its new flagship store in Pasadena, California. At 40,000 square feet and two levels, it's one of Forever 21's largest locations to date. Its numerous shop-in-shop concepts demonstrates the continuing strength of boutique and specialty retailing over the department or megastore format.

Its revenue topped $1 billion in 2006, placing Forever 21 in the ranks of the top 500 privately held companies in the U.S. The business strategy of Forever 21 has budgeted expenses in advertising. The company chooses to keep their money away from premium real estate that attracts heavy commercial traffic.

2007~Now

On June 23, 2007, Forever 21 opened its second store in Canada after its store in Edmonton. Located in Toronto on Yonge Street, its revenue has topped $1.3 billion in 2007.[5]

More than 400 stores in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Behrain, and China now operate in the Forever 21 chain, including Forever XXI (large flagship stores), For Love 21 (accessories), Heritage 1981 (men's and women's vintage), Twelve by Twelve (upscale Los Angeles), and Gadzooks 21 (formally Gadzooks). New merchandise arrives in the stores every day. And the merchandise is completely changed every six to eight weeks.[6]

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.[7] The matter was settled out of court and the company, which admitted no wrongdoing, agreed to take steps to ensure that its garments were not made in sweatshops.[8] In 2004, under pressure from PETA, Forever 21 agreed to stop selling clothing made with animal fur.[9] Forever 21 has also been accused of stealing designs from high-end fashion brands. Recently, Designer Diane von Fürstenberg has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for duplicating her dress designs. [10] Since that time Furstenberg has settled with the company for undisclosed terms [11]. Singer and designer Gwen Stefani has filed a federal lawsuit against the fashion megachain, claiming the retailer illegally ripped off her Harajuku Lovers designs. [12] Designer Anna Sui has also filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 alleging that Forever 21 sold and offered for sale numerous women's clothing items bearing a striking similarity to her products featured at the most recent New York Fashion Week shows.[13] The store's trademark yellow shopping bags have the words John 3:16 printed on the bottom, a reflection of the owners' Christian faith.[14]

References

  1. ^ Company Profile
  2. ^ Los Angeles Times
  3. ^ Hoover's profile
  4. ^ The interesting story of Forever 21 | forever 21, Jeff Koyen, Radar Magazine | teamsugar - Women's Social Network & Community
  5. ^ Los Angeles Times
  6. ^ Chicago Tribune
  7. ^ CorpWatch - "Boycott Forever 21!"
  8. ^ Los Angeles Times
  9. ^ PETA - "Take Charge: Forever 21 Drops Fur for Good!"
  10. ^ http://www.nypost.com/seven/03292007/news/regionalnews/designer_sues_regionalnews_danica_lo.htm New York Post - "Designer Sues: 'Evil' Twin Von Furious At 'Copycat']
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ E! News - Gwen Hates on Harajuku's Lovers
  13. ^ Anna Sui Corp. v. Forever 21, Inc. et al :: Justia News
  14. ^ New York Sun - Aug. 18, 2006 "Evangelism in Fashion"
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