Background On My Favorite Retailer

Last week I discussed how my favorite retailer was FOREVER 21. This week I am going to give the background information and inside scoop on the history of FOREVER 21. The very first store opened up in Los Angeles, California it was located at 5637 N. Figueroa St. in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. By the end of the first year, sales had risen from $35,000 to $700,000. Fashion 21 eventually expanded at the rate of a new store every six months and changed the Fashion 21 brand name to Forever 21. In 1989, Forever 21 opened its 11th store and first store located in a Mall, at the Panorama Mall(www.Panoramamall.com) which is in Panorama City, CA. Forever 21 increased its presence by expanding the average size to 5,000 square feet (460 m2) per store. Since then, Forever 21 has been running speciality stores in major mall locations nationwide. In 1995, the company expanded their chain to Florida and opened a store in Miami's Mall of the Americas, this location was the first store outside of California. Drastically expanding the number of Forever 21 stores nationally, Forever 21 opened XXI flagship stores in Georgia, Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Orem, Chicago, and Canada. The average size of XXI venues are average of 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2). Since 2002, Forever 21 has been ranked as one of the 50 largest privately held companies in Los Angeles. In 2005, Forever 21 was operating over 355 locations nationwide with the brands Forever 21, Forever XXI, For Love 21, and Gadzooks. In September 2008, Forever 21 opened its new flagship store in North Atlanta, Georgia (Dunwoody), the first XXI flagship in Georgia. Another flagship opened in Atlanta two months later. Its numerous shop-in-shop concepts demonstrates the continuing strength of boutique and specialty retailing over the department or megastore format.