Beset by Shein, Temu and all the other fast-fashion options, U.S. retailer Forever 21 is bankrupt again. This time it's game over, too, with every store in the U.S. scheduled to close. If it has a future it is as the competition that killed it: online-only.
"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," said Brad Sell, the company's chief financial officer, in a statement.
The de minimis exemption allows shipments into the U.S. under $800 to come in duty free. Trump set out to get rid of it—and was immediately set straight by reality.
Days after U.S. President Donald Trump ended duty-free entry for cheap Chinese goods entering the U.S., his administration put the order on hold after more than a million packages piled up at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was the result of a rushed, confusing policy change that proved unworkable on short notice. Government officials are now scrambling to implement the order in a way that won't cripple America's hyper-efficient import system.
Once more unto the breach? If so, it'll be too late to save Forever 21.
Previously:
• Party is over for bankrupt Tupperware
• Spirit Airlines is bankrupt
• Big Lots is bankrupt and selling itself to private equity
