Not many teenage girls go their whole adolescence without stepping into a Forever 21. The stretching expanse of never ending racks of clothes. The eclectic hodgepodge of items, how you never know what you might be reaching for. The chaotic energy of it all; a whole other world full of new discoveries. Forever 21 is pretty iconic, but right now the store is in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Earlier this month, rumors were flurrying around that Forever 21 may have been reaching the end of their road and filing for bankruptcy. Well, as of September 30, The Washington Post reported that Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy. Regardless of age, every woman, both young and old, weeps for what could be the end of a fashion era...except not quite.
There is a silver lining to all this wild news. Forever 21 is shutting down hundreds of stores all around the world, but not all of them. Also these shutdowns are a hiatus (think more Jonas Brothers than One Direction), hopefully the mega store chain will have a chance to refresh and come back bigger and better than ever.
So why, you may ask, do I care so strongly about this one place to shop, when everywhere you look you get slapped in the face with ads and commercials for other stores? My love for Forever 21 started in elementary school. With a shopping addiction from a young age, a store that offered a multitude of clothing in every hue and style for a cheap price made little me very happy. I've owned dozens of articles of clothing from Forever 21 and have fond memories of some of the more stylish and long-lasting pieces.
In sixth grade, my class had a group project where you and your group picked a theme and made one cohesive magazine about it. My group chose fashion, and one of the requirements of the project was an editorial in your magazine. So 11 year old me wrote an editorial on why Forever 21 was the best place to shop at. I am not kidding. Being quite the little writer back in the day, I gave solid evidence for my opinion, like the selection of clothing, the selling of other products, and the benefit of plus sizes, kids', and men's sections. It was some riveting stuff, and I still stick by my original opinion seven years later.
One of the main reasons Forever 21 is suffering so badly is the competition it faces from online stores. Some may also say that the store has gone downhill slightly when it comes to what it allows to be sold. Imagine the annoyance one may feel when they see the cutest bomber jacket ever that they are going to love and cherish forever and, upon further inspection, discover it says "I Love Tacos" on the back. You can probably guess that people aren't going to appreciate that part of their shopping experience. We have to remember though that Forever 21 tries to be accommodating for all kinds of people, and there are people out there who want to express their love for tacos on the garments they wear.
No matter what your opinion is on the quality of this clothing store, Forever 21 has had a permanent spot in the retail world for a long time, and it would be really weird to see them start to disappear. I guess nothing can truly last forever, even if the name implies that it will!
