Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time and plans to close down its U.S. business as traffic in U.S. shopping malls fades and competition from online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein intensifies.
F21 OpCo, which runs Forever 21 stores, said late Sunday that it will wind down the business in the U.S. under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while determining if it can continue as a business with a partner, or if it will sell some or all of its assets.
“While we have evaluated all options to best position the company for the future, we have been unable to find a sustainable path forward, given competition from foreign fast fashion companies, which have been able to take advantage of the de minimis exemption to undercut our brand on pricing and margin,” Chief Financial Officer Brad Sell said in a statement.
The de minimis tax exemption lets shipments headed to U.S. businesses and consumers valued at less than $800 to enter the country tax free and duty free.
Forever 21 stores in the U.S. will hold liquidation sales and the website will continue to run while operations wind down. The retailer's locations outside of the U.S. are run by other licensees and are not included in the bankruptcy filing. International store locations and websites will continue operating as normal.
Authentic Brands Group owns the international intellectual property associated with the Forever 21 brand and may license the brand to other operators, F21OpCo said.
Jarrod Weber, Global President, Lifestyle at Authentic Brands Group, said the restructuring lets Forever 21 “accelerate the modernization of the brand’s distribution model, setting it up to compete and lead in fast fashion for decades to come. We’re building a direct creation-to-shelf model that moves faster.”
He added that, “We are receiving lots of interest from strong brand operators and digital experts who share our vision and are ready to take the brand to the next level.”
Forever 21 first filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019. The following year, it was acquired by a consortium of parties including Authentic Brands Group and mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners. In early January, Forever 21’s parent company, Sparc Group, merged with JCPenney to form Catalyst Brands, a new entity that also includes brands like Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand, and Nautica.
In 2023, Forever 21 teamed up with Chinese e-commerce player Shein. The partnership allowed Shein to carry Forever 21’s items on its platform. It also offered the opportunity to return Shein online orders at a couple hundred physical Forever 21 stores across the U.S.
Forever 21 joins a slew of other retailers that have filed for Chapter 11 or are liquidating in recent months as retailers face a slowdown in consumer spending and are navigating rising operating costs amid inflationary pressures. They include fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc and Party City. In February, Outdoor apparel seller Liberated Brands, which has operated stores for surfer and skater-inspired labels like Quiksilver, Billabong and Volcom, filed for bankruptcy — and said it plans to shutter its locations across the U.S.
From Jan. 1 through March 14, U.S. retailers have so far announced 3,735 store closures, according to Coresight Research's weekly tracker.
Forever 21 had been battling a host of macroeconomic challenges as well as its own issues.
Forever 21 was founded in 1984 and, along with other fast-fashion chains like H&M and Zara, rode a wave of popularity among young customers in the mid-1990s. Their popularity grew during the Great Recession, when shoppers were seeking bargains. But Forever 21 went on an aggressive expansion just as shoppers were moving more online. Critics have said that Forever 21 was too slow to embraice online shopping.
The company also faced stiff competition from the likes of Shein and Temu, which churn out trendy items that are cheaper than what Forever 21 offers. For example, Forever 21 sells T-shirts for around $10. Temu has them for $5.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement that part of the problem now is that Forever 21's stores are too big for its current needs and it's in malls with not enough foot traffic.
“Forever 21 was always a retailer living on borrowed time. Over recent years it has been hit with dual headwinds from a weak apparel market and stiff competition from cheap Chinese marketplaces,” he said. “Both things have eroded its standing and depleted its market share.”
FILE - Shoppers walk by a Forever 21 clothing store, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Tokyo, as the liquidation sale signs are posted on the storefront. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, file)
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Relatives of victims and others wait at a hospital, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives wait at a hospital to receive bodies of victims, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Forensic workers inspect the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A cuddly toy lies on the ground at the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
