Forever 21 Officially Filed For Bankruptcy

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday and today Forever 21 has officially filed for bankruptcy. So it looks like I will never actually become the Kanye West lyric: “Rock Forever 21, but just turned Thir-tay.”

Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy and are closing, many, many stores, so some people won’t be able walk into a Forever 21 store to buy a shitty-made half-shirt with the phrase “Me Want Tacos!” or “Sundaze Are For SLEEP!” or “Girl$ Ju$t Want To Have Fund$” written on the back of it.

Late last month, there was a rumor that this would happen, because numbers don’t lie and there wasn’t a sudden uptick in people needing kitschy bullshit that would fall apart after three washes. And he were are, Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy at the tender age of 21.

CNBC says that Forever 21 just could not keep up with its main competitor Versace. JK, we all know Aeropostale are the ones who knocked them out. Forever 21 is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, getting a whole shit ton of money–$275 million in financing with JPMorgan Chase, and $75 million from TPG Sixth Street Partners and a bunch of other funds to “help it support its operations in bankruptcy.”

A spokesperson said the company is planning on closing up to 178 US stores and also every single store in Canada. Forever 21 apparently played themselves by opening 815 stores globally in an “aggressive real estate expansion” which hit their finances hard. But hey, don’t worry, it’s not just North America who will no longer enjoy cheap clothing that is occasionally cute–they’re also exiting most of Asia and Europe as well. But they won’t exit “major markets in the US” and they plan on staying in Mexico and Latin America.

A statement from Forever 21 makes it clear that they’re not going out of business:

Today, Forever 21, Inc. voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Essentially this allows Forever 21 to continue to operate its stores as usual, while the Company takes positive steps to reorganize the business so we can return to profitability and refocus on delivering incredible styles and fashion you love for many years to come. This does NOT mean that we are going out of business – on the contrary, filing for bankruptcy protection is a deliberate and decisive step to put us on a successful track for the future.

This is not the first retailer this year to file for bankruptcy so they can close most of their shit and consolidate into smaller operations and focus on “online shopping.” This is shitty news for people who are losing their jobs, and for malls, which will soon be extinct, but this reminds me of when Target went belly-up in Canada and I went ballistic hitting up every one in a 100-mile radius looking for cheap shit. So I plan on putting on my Forever 21-bought black mourning veil and hitting up every store near me to fight over highly-discounted socks with every Becky and Bella.

Pic: Instagram