E-commerce took down another global brand as fashion retailer ‘Forever 21’ files for bankruptcy protection.
Through this move, Forever 21 hopes to restructure its business after taking a hit from e-commerce players.
Forever 21 says it will shut down operations in Asia and Europe but will maintain operations in Mexico and Latin America.
It expects to close up to 350 stores worldwide, a spokesperson said, including as many as 178 US stores.
The fashion retailer has received $275 million from JPMorgan Chase Bank, $75 million from TPG Sixth Street Partners.
Forever 21 listed its assets and liabilities from $1 billion to $10 billion.
Founded in 1984, it has fallen out of favour with young shoppers looking for relatively cheap clothing.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, told a BBC report: “Over the past few years, the brand has lost much of the excitement and oomph which is critical to driving footfall and sales and is now something of an also-ran which is too easily overlooked.”
Meanwhile, Forever 21 in a public letter on Sunday said that “stores are open” and “it will continue to feel like a normal day”.
“This does not mean that we are going out of business – on the contrary, filing for bankruptcy protection is a deliberate and decisive step to put us on a successful track for the future,” the statement read.
