SM Says Forever 21 In PH Unaffected By Bankruptcy
FOREVER 21 – The popular fashion retailer Forever 21 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday.
The fashion retailer said that they will file a motion to close at most 178 of its more than 800 stores. Linda Chang, executive vice president of the company said that filing for bankruptcy is important to secure their future.
According to CNN, Forever 21 is having financial troubles due to the outburst of online shopping that has cut traffic to malls. Along with this, high debt level and rent caused were also a said factor.
Other stores similar to Forever 21 however, have completely shut down. These include Payless ShoeSource and Charlotte Russe.
Along with this, the company had also seen controversies due to lawsuits filed against them. The most recent one being the issue with them allegedly using the likeliness of Ariana Grande without consent.
The fashion retail company was founded back in 1984. They were riding on a wave of popularity among the youth and found great success in the mid-1990’s.
They also stated that they have plans to exit most of their international location in Asia and Europe. In contrast, their branches in Mexico and Latin America would continue operations.
In lieu of this news, SM, the largest mall branch in the Philippines clarified that the filing of bankruptcy does not affect franchises in the Philippines. This was according to a report by Philstar.
The company said that their decision as to which domestic store in the U.S. will be closing are ongoing. This is due to the pending outcome of continued communications with landlords.
However, Forever 21 also mentioned that there would still be a significant number of their stores open and operating as usual. They also added that they do not expect to exit the major markets in the U.S.
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