Forever 21 is a famous clothing store that sells across the world. Known for selling accessories, products for the home, beauty products, and of course clothing. Forever 21 is considered the embodiment of what is known as the fast fashion industry because of how the clothes are made, making them very affordable. But, do you know who owns Forever 21?
However, Forever 21 has had a long history and in fact, this past April marked its 38th anniversary. So how does one get a famous clothing store with affordable pricing? Perhaps the Changs can answer that question.
The Beginnings of Forever 21
Founding of Fashion 21
Before ever being known as Forever 21, it was actually known as Fashion 21. The store was founded by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang, a husband, and wife from South Korea. They opened on April 16, 1984. The original store was there up until 2020. In its beginning, Forever 21 catered toward the Korean American community and made over $700K in its first year.
Early Years
By 2011, Forever 21 was making $124 million annually and had over a billion in assets. However, the store chain was mired in controversy. For starters, the CEH, or the Center of Environmental Health discovered that Forever 21 was one of over two dozen stores that were selling jewelry containing toxic metals.
Later, a blogger named Archer Kane created a blog called WTForever21.com. There, she posted and gave opinions about the clothing choices that Forever 21 carried. The blog grew very popular and the store asked to remove the site or face a lawsuit. In September 2012, Forever 21 was given a lawsuit by a lawyer claiming that the store was”penny-pinching”. Regardless, the matter fell off the radar and nothing came of it.
Forever 21 was soon known for its various lawsuits. Labor groups and environmentalists have filed lawsuits against the company stating that they have violated labor laws. The clothes are being made in sweatshop-like conditions. It cost the store a lot in damages and was met with a three-year strike and many protests.
Over the years, Forever 21 also had multiple lawsuits involving intellectual property design lawsuits. For instance, in 2015, a Canadian family-owned business had one of its designers notice that their designs were being used and mass-produced by Forever 21. Even software developers sued for using unlicensed copies.
Around 2013, The store was worldwide and was making over $3 billion in sales. They peaked in 2015 at over $4.4 billion before decreasing afterward.
Bankruptcy
By 2018, Forever 21 was suffering from strong competition who was also offering fast fashion. They closed dozens of stores in other countries such as Thailand and Ireland.
Because of competition, damage to their reputation, high costs, and more, they almost collapsed. It dropped in sales by 32% in 2019. The media stated that the store had overextended and did not have the proper way of dealing with e-commerce competition.
In September 2019, they filed for bankruptcy. It then downsized and removed its operations from 40 countries.
Forever 21 in the Present
The Selling
So who owns Forever 21? In February 2020, Forever 21 sold its assets to a mall consortium. This included:
- Simon Property Group
- Brookfield Properties
- Authentic Brands Group
Presently, the store has over 600 stores with over 400 of them being in the United States. Outside of the United States, many of these stores tend to be a part of a franchise. Other times, it operates with a local partner via a joint venture.
Do Won Chang
The founder of Forever 21 was a South Korean immigrant along with his wife, Jin Sook Chang. Together, they had two daughters who would be executives in the business.
Chang never went to college and thus, only worked in coffee shops when he was younger. Their store, Fashion 21, was a small 900-square-foot building with $11,000 in savings. Fortune was on their side and expanded. By 2015, they went up to 600 stores manned with 30,000 employees.
The Changs are also known to be faithful Christians. Because of this, at the bottom of every Forever 21 Bag is John 3:16 from the Bible. They also have donated to many faith groups and churches. Do Won himself goes around for missionary work.
Conclusion
Forever 21, despite its fame for teenagers everywhere, has always had some skeletons in its closet. With lawsuit after lawsuit, the business did all it could, but it still ended up bankrupt. However, the Changs still have control over the company.
Now that you know who owns Forever 21, as well as some of its history, you understand that the clock is ticking. Malls have been decreasing throughout the years as e-commerce has become a more popular tool. With more and more malls closing down, that leaves the franchise an endangered species.
No matter what happens, a good businessman should be able to work with changes. Forever 21 suffered in the past with e-commerce. If anything, it needs to do everything in its power to remain relevant by having a larger presence through online and e-commerce.
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