Forever 21’s bankruptcy means shutdowns at South Florida malls. See the list of stores
No one stays 21 forever, and Forever 21 isn’t as long for the world as the 40-year-old Los Angeles company would have liked.
Forever 21’s U.S. retail operator filed for bankruptcy on Monday, the second time in six years, and will be closing stores, including those in South Florida malls.
The chain was once the go-to choice for fast-fashion teens in the mid-1990s through the first decade of the 2000s.
Forever 21 joins a growing list of affordable retailers like Joann, Big Lots, Party City, Dollar General and American Freight that have recently announced store closings.
MORE: These stores are disappearing from the South Florida retail scene. Will you miss them?
Forever 21’s operator, F21 OpCo, didn’t say when its 350 U.S. stores, including 23 in Florida, would close for good.
The company didn’t name any stores in its media release but but that the outlets would stay open for the time being and the company wind down its business with liquidation sales. Eight Forever 21 stores are in South Florida.
“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 (a tax break on shipments headed to U.S. businesses and consumers that are valued at less than $800 can enter the country tax free and duty free) to undercut our brand on pricing and margin,” Brad Sell, CFO of F21 OpCo, said in a statement.
Forever 21 was founded in Los Angeles in 1984. When Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy in 2019, the company closed about 200 of its domestic stores, CNN reported. Stores outside the U.S. are run by licensees and aren’t a part of the current Chapter 21 bankruptcy filing.
Online retailers also cut into Forever 21’s market when it also competed with fast-fashion stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Zara and H&M.
Hipper brands aimed at younger shoppers, such as Aritzia and Skims, at Miami malls have gained popularity at the expense of more established stores, said Jackie Soffer in an interview last year with the Miami Herald. Soffer is CEO of Turnberry Associates, the chief owner of Aventura Mall. Forever 21 closed its Aventura Mall location in early 2024.
Dolphin Mall in West Miami Dade and Palms Town and Country in Kendall also once had Forever 21 stores.
Florida Forever 21 stores
Gift cards will be honored through April 15, 2025, according to the filing.
These are the Forever 21 mall stores in Florida that will close:
▪ South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.)
— Miami International Mall, 1455 NW 107th Ave., Doral.
— Florida Keys Outlet Marketplace, 250 East Palm Dr., Florida City.
— Lincoln Road Mall, 701 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach.
— Pembroke Lakes Mall, 11401 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines.
— Sawgrass Mills, 12801 West Sunrise Blvd., Sunrise.
— Town Center at Boca Raton, 6000 West Glades Rd.
— The Mall at Wellington Green, 10003 West Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington.
— Tanger Outlet Palm Beach, 1751 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach.
▪ Other Florida locations
There are also Forever 21 stores in Altamonte Springs, Brandon, Clearwater, Gainesville, Jensen Beach, Kissimmee, Naples, four stores in Orlando, Panama City Beach, Sarasota, Tallahassee and Winter Garden.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
