Forever 21

Infobox_Company
company_type = Privately Held Company
company_name = Forever 21, Inc.
company_
foundation = 1984
location = Los Angeles, California, USA 90057 [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/103/103504.html Company Profile] ]
key_people = Do Won (Don) Chang, CEO
industry = Apparel
products = Clothing, Accessories
revenue = profit 1.3 billion $ (2007) [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-forever23-2008jun23,0,1536018.story Los Angeles Times] ]
homepage = [http://www.forever21.com/ www.forever21.com]

Forever 21 is a chain of clothing retailers throughout the United States, Philippines, 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. [ [http://www.hoovers.com/forever-21/--ID__103504--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml Hoover's profile] ]

History

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. The first store , located at 5637 N. Figueroa St. in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles was only convert|900|sqft|m2; it is still in operation and bears the chain's original name. 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 increased its presence by expanding the average size to convert|5000|sqft|m2 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. [ [http://teamsugar.com/group/30094/blog/1074976 The interesting story of Forever 21 | forever 21, Jeff Koyen, Radar Magazine | teamsugar - Women's Social Network & Community ] ] 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 convert|9000|sqft|m2 per store in prime spots of top tier malls.

2000-2006

Drastically expanding the number of Forever 21 stores nationally, Forever 21 opened XXI flagship stores in Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Canada. The average size of XXI venues are average of convert|24000|sqft|m2. 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 convert|40000|sqft|m2 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.

More than 400 stores in the United States, Philippines, 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 with men and women merchandise), For Love 21 (accessories), Reference (similar to Forever21), Heritage 1981 (men's and women's vintage), Twelve by Twelve(upscale Los Angeles), and Gadzooks 21 (formerly Gadzooks). New merchandise arrives in the stores every day. And the merchandise is completely changed every six to eight weeks. [ [http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sat-retail-notebook-1apr19,0,7969276.story Chicago Tribune] ]

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. [ [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=792 CorpWatch - "Boycott Forever 21!"] ] 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. In 2004, under pressure from PETA, Forever 21 agreed to stop selling clothing made with animal fur. [ [http://www.peta2.com/takecharge/t-forever21.asp PETA - "Take Charge: Forever 21 Drops Fur for Good!"] ] 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. [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'] ] Since that time Furstenberg has settled with the company for undisclosed terms [ [http://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2008/02/forever_21_retail_copyright_infringement_02.php'] ] Dead link|date=September 2008. Singer and designer Gwen Stefani has filed a federal lawsuit against the fashion megachain, claiming the retailer illegally ripped off her Harajuku Lovers designs. [ [http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=cd25bdf4-a021-45f5-81d9-09da97906d26&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories E! News - Gwen Hates on Harajuku's Lovers] ] 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. [ [http://news.justia.com/cases/366304/ Anna Sui Corp. v. Forever 21, Inc. et al :: Justia News ] ] The store's trademark yellow shopping bags have the words printed on the bottom, a reflection of the owners' Christian faith. [ [http://www.nysun.com/article/38174?page_no=2 New York Sun - Aug. 18, 2006 "Evangelism in Fashion"] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.forever21.com/default.asp Official Forever21 Website]
* [http://www.forever21.com/heritage1981/default.asp Official Heritage1981 Website]
* [http://www.forever21.com/twelve/default.asp Official Twelve by Twelve Website]
* [http://www.forever21.com/forlove21/default.asp Official ForLove 21 Website]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/fashion/10FOREVER.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin Faster Fashion, Cheaper Chic - New York Times, May 10, 2007]
* [http://www.newangelesmonthly.com/article.php?id=91&IssueNum=7 Fast, Cheap and Under Control: The rise of Forever 21 and Downtown's wholesale economy - New Angeles Monthly, December 2007]
* [http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sat-retail-notebook-1apr19,0,7969276.story Forever 21 favors 2 Mag Mile stores - Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2008]
* [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-forever23-2008jun23,0,1536018.story Fast-fashion concept fuels Forever 21's expansion - Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2008]