By The future of retail stores proves to be a weary one with long-time fast fashion retailer Forever21 announcing the closure of all their U.S. operations in May of 2025.
Founded in 1984 in Los Angeles, the company was known for their fluorescent-lit lighting and white brick interior that housed affordable clothes for teens on disheveled racks.
Despite filing for their second bankruptcy, the mega retailer plans to keep all international operations open for business, but the store shuttering signifies that a darker future is approaching quicker for brick-and-mortar lovers.
Brick-and-mortar stores saw a decline in demand way before Forever21’s closure, but the COVID-19 lockdown led consumers to online markets and consumers stayed for the comfort of it.
This comfort is what is literally and physically tearing down the significance of retail stores. No one wants to leave their digital sphere.
Brad Sell, chief financial officer of F21 OpCo, the operating company for F21, said in a statement that the increase in competition abroad has made the Forever21 model of business unsustainable.
Young Ha, an area coordinator and professor of fashion merchandising and design at Long Beach State, notes that in order for a retail store to keep up with online shopping, they need to combine sustainability, affordability and a strong online presence.
Online competitors like Temu and Shein skyrocketed to the top alongside shopping leaders like Amazon due to the convenience of finding every possible product on the market for ground-level affordability.
Shay Anderson-Morgan, a fourth-year marketing major, said that depending on whatever item she is looking for, she will head to Amazon to see if it is available there.
Online shopping provides opportunities for shoppers to branch out in the type of items that they buy, but it robs a lot of people of first-hand experiences.
Shoppers would no longer experience the journey of browsing and trying on clothes in store. The excitement that comes with shopping with your friends is one that can’t be reciprocated anywhere else for a cheaper price.
Retail stores also provide more ease, like the free clothes hemming offered by Lululemon, or the simple fact that returning items in-store is quicker and easier.
On an economic note, retail stores provide are huge participants in economic growth. If retail stores can no longer provide physical jobs, that is also robbing people of honing specific work skills.
Retail management is no easy feat and requires people gain expertise in interpersonal and communication skills, like problem solving, people skills, teamwork and time management. These skills are extremely beneficial in and out of the workplace.
Online shopping isn’t a bad thing, but the dependence on the online market has sped up so many shifts in culture. Mall culture is only thriving in locations that still want it to thrive.
The best way for consumers to nurture the dying mall trend is to make it appealing to the newer generations. Social media has worked overtime with trinkets, bookstores and even the Stanley craze of 2024-and it brought people to the stores.
The future of retail shopping is dependent on the society around it. People aren’t ready for a full-blown, Wall-E-esque shift onto the digital sphere just yet, even if they think they are. The discussion of how important retail stores are has become more prevalent with the closure of Forever21 stores nationwide.
