Name: 曾經的快時尚霸主「Forever 21」如何從銷售額 40 億美元到兩度破產？ (How Forever 21 Went From $4B in Sales to Going Bankrupt Twice | WSJ What Went Wrong)
Uploaded: 2025-03-18T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 6 min 5 s

Forever 21 was a fast fashion pioneer known for selling trendy clothes at rock-bottom prices.

Forever 21 是快時尚的先驅，以低價銷售時尚服飾而聞名。

At its peak, the company had more than 800 physical stores and over $4 billion in sales.

在巔峰時期，該公司擁有 800 多家實體店，銷售額超過 40 億美元。

But now, the fast fashion kingpin is toppling from competition within its own industry.

但現在，這家快時尚巨頭卻因行業內的競爭而一蹶不振。

The company has filed for bankruptcy for the second time, forcing it to shutter stores across the U.S. and lay off hundreds of employees.

該公司已第二次申請破產，被迫關閉全美各地的門店並裁員數百人。

The story of Forever 21 started when a couple from Korea pulled together $11,000 in savings to open the first store in Los Angeles in 1984, calling it Fashion 21.

Forever 21 的故事始於 1984 年，一對來自韓國的夫婦湊了 1.1 萬美元的積蓄，在洛杉磯開了第一家店，取名為 "時尚 21"。

Teen apparel retail has been around for decades.

青少年服裝零售業已有幾十年的歷史。

And Aeropostale or Abercrombie or Gap, they're definitely the stalwarts of teen apparel.

至於 Aeropostale、Abercrombie 或 Gap，它們絕對是青少年服裝的中堅力量。

I think the difference with Forever 21 is that when retailers like them came along, they were on top of the latest trends and styles much faster than retailers had been in the past.

我認為 Forever 21 的不同之處在於，當他們這樣的零售商出現時，他們比過去的零售商更快地掌握了最新的潮流和款式。

Competitors like Zara and Topshop were already selling similar products.

Zara 和 Topshop 等競爭對手已經在銷售類似產品。

But Forever 21 offered cheaper prices to consumers.

但 Forever 21 為消費者提供了更便宜的價格。

Sweatshirts, button-downs, you name it, Forever 21 probably had it, and for cheap.

運動衫、鈕釦衫，只要你說得出的，Forever 21 可能都有，而且價格便宜。

They would carry very trendy styles, styles that you would see in designer clothing stores that were priced much higher.

他們會銷售非常新潮的款式，這些款式在名牌服裝店裡可以看到，但價格要高得多。

So, this allowed a very fashion-conscious consumer to buy these types of apparel.

這使得非常注重時尚的消費者能夠購買這類服裝。

Around 12% of teen consumers listed Forever 21 as their favorite brand in 2011, and sales for the retailer peaked at more than $4 billion in 2014.

2011 年，約有 12% 的青少年消費者將 Forever 21 列為最喜愛的品牌，2014 年該零售商的銷售額達到頂峰，超過 40 億美元。

Forever 21's success quickly took the brand global.

Forever 21 的成功迅速將該品牌推向全球。

The retailer opened more than 200 stores internationally, and at least 70 of those stores were 35,000 square feet or larger, including a 90,000-square-foot store in Times Square.

該零售商在全球開設了 200 多家門店，其中至少有 70 家門店的面積達到或超過 35,000 平方英尺，包括在時代廣場開設的一家 90,000 平方英尺的門店。

The big spaces, 35,000 square feet, that was something that they really emphasized and they really believed in, but that also meant that they had to have a lot of inventory.

35,000 平方英尺的大空間是他們非常重視和堅信的，但這也意味著他們必須有大量庫存。

Over time, that became a financial drain for the company and wasn't so easy to manage.

隨著時間的推移，這成了公司的一項財務消耗，而且管理起來也不那麼容易。

In 2019, Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy, citing its rapid international expansion and underperformance as key reasons.

2019 年，Forever 21 申請破產，主要原因是其快速的國際擴張和業績不佳。

Stores in Canada, Europe, and Asia lost $10 million on average in 2018 and 2019.

加拿大、歐洲和亞洲的商店在 2018 年和 2019 年平均虧損 1000 萬美元。

It wasn't just international sales that plummeted for Forever 21.

對 Forever 21 而言，下滑的不僅僅是國際銷售額。

It was also sales in U.S. malls, where the fast fashion retailer was a major tenant.

這也是美國商場的銷售情況，這家快時尚零售商是這些商場的主要租戶。

That drop stems from the rise in e-commerce and the COVID-19 pandemic.

這一下降源於電子商務的興起和 COVID-19 的流行。

They were very slow to adapt to e-commerce.

他們對電子商務的適應非常緩慢。

By the time they filed for bankruptcy, only 16% of their sales were through e-commerce.

到他們申請破產時，只有 16% 的銷售額是通過電子商務實現的。

And at that point, a lot of companies had already made e-commerce a much stronger part of their offering.

當時，許多公司已經將電子商務作為其產品中更重要的一部分。

Forever 21 continued to hemorrhage cash to the tune of $120 million, just one month after filing for bankruptcy.

在申請破產僅一個月後，Forever 21 繼續大出血，現金流高達 1.2 億美元。

That's when licensing firm Authentic Brands Group and real estate companies Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners joined forces to buy Forever 21.

這時，授權公司 Authentic Brands Group 與房地產公司 Simon Property Group 和 Brookfield Property Partners 聯手收購了 Forever 21。

If you lose your biggest stores, who's going to come into your malls?

如果你失去了最大的商店，誰還會來你的商場？

And then what does that mean about your other tenants?

Part of the proposition was that with Simon and Brookfield, they're going to be more flexible about rents because they are the landlords and they might tie the rents to the revenue.

部分建議是，西蒙和布魯克菲爾德公司在租金方面會更加靈活，因為他們是業主，他們可能會將租金與收入掛鉤。

You're giving the retailer a bit more wiggle room when things aren't going so well.

當事情進展不順利時，你會給零售商更多的迴旋餘地。

Authentic Brands is known for scooping up many fallen legacy brands, like Arab Hostel, Brooks Brothers and Reebok, and attempting to save them from extinction by licensing the brands to the highest bidder.

Authentic Brands 以收購許多沒落的傳統品牌而聞名，如 Arab Hostel、Brooks Brothers 和 Reebok，並試圖通過向出價最高者授予品牌許可的方式來挽救它們的命運。

The company declined to comment on this story.

But even under new ownership, Forever 21 was up against a different challenge.

但即使在新的所有權下，Forever 21 也面臨著不同的挑戰。

Asian e-commerce powerhouses like Shein and Temu, which utilize thousands of factories in China to pump out new products at even lower prices.

Shein和Temu等亞洲電子商務巨頭利用中國的數千家工廠，以更低的價格推出新產品。

A Forever 21 graphic t-shirt sells for around $11, compared to just $5 at Shein.

Forever 21 的圖案 T 恤售價約為 11 美元，而在 Shein 僅售 5 美元。

So Forever 21 formed a partnership with Shein in 2023.

於是，Forever 21 在 2023 年與 Shein 建立了合作關係。

Other retailers are going to have to learn what Shein's doing if they want to compete because they're just faster and better understanding the customer.

其他零售商要想在競爭中取勝，就必須學習 Shein 的做法，因為他們的速度更快，對顧客的理解也更透徹。

Shein offered Forever 21's lineup on its website and for sure that got them some sales, but it didn't offset enough the loss from the competition from Shein.

Shein 在其網站上提供 Forever 21 的產品系列，這肯定會給他們帶來一些銷售額，但這不足以抵消來自 Shein 競爭的損失。

Forever 21 ultimately was undermined by companies like Shein that can do it faster and cheaper.

Forever 21 最終被 Shein 等公司打敗，因為這些公司可以更快、更便宜地完成任務。

The remaining Forever 21 stores across the U.S. have begun liquidation sales, offering hefty discounts on remaining products.

Forever 21 在全美的剩餘門店已經開始清倉大拋售，為剩餘產品提供高額折扣。

But that doesn't mean Forever 21 will be completely gone.

但這並不意味著 Forever 21 將徹底消失。

Authentic brands, they plan to continue to own Forever 21.

正宗品牌，他們計劃繼續擁有 Forever 21。

Then they have stores overseas that are not impacted by this bankruptcy.

此外，他們在海外的分店也不受此次破產的影響。

Possibly someone like a Forever 21 served the purpose that both the mall owners and authentic brands wanted it to serve, which was that it continued to pull in traffic to the malls.

也許，像 Forever 21 這樣的品牌可以達到商場業主和正宗品牌希望它達到的目的，即繼續為商場帶來客流。

So that meant you had shoppers for all the other stores in Simon Properties' malls.

這就意味著，西蒙地產旗下購物中心的所有其他商店都有購物者。

It's possible that, you know, they don't necessarily expect these companies to be profitable for them, you know, forever.

有可能，你知道，他們並不一定指望這些公司永遠為他們盈利。