UNITED STATES – F21 OpCo, LLC, the operator of Forever 21, announces it has started voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy and will start a wind down of stores.
The company says it will do liquidation sales while conducting a court-supervised sale for some or all of its assets.
Forever 21 stores in our region include the West Acres Mall in Fargo and the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“Following the conclusion of our strategic review and after careful deliberation, we made the decision to file for chapter 11 to implement a court-supervised marketing process to solicit a going concern transaction, and, in the absence of such an arrangement, an orderly wind down of operations. 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, as well as rising costs, economic challenges impacting our core customers, and evolving consumer trends. As we move through the process, we will work diligently to minimize the impact on our employees, customers, vendors and other stakeholders,” Chief Financial Officer of F21 OpCo Brad Sell said.
