DIve Summary:
- Forever 21 now has 450 stores in the U.S. and 100 international locations, and teen retail players like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, American Eagle and the Gap are feeling the pressure.
- In a note to clients, Bank of America analysts Lorraine Hutchinson, Paul Alexander, and Jessica A. Lebo declared Forever 21 to be the "most transformative retail concept," estimating the privately held teen fashion retailer's sales to be upwards of $3.5 billion and warning that its rapid growth could have ripple effects on the competition.
- By getting the latest fashions faster and selling them at a cheaper price, expanding its customer base and fighting competitors head-on, Forever 21 is well on its way to becoming the "global retail conglomerate" that SVP Christopher Lee envisioned in a 2008 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
From the article:
... "Forever 21 is becoming too big for the specialty retailers to ignore," the analysts wrote. "At this size, rapid growth could have ripple effects on the other retailers as Forever 21 takes more share." Back in 2008, Forever 21 SVP Christopher Lee told the Los Angeles Times that the company's goal is to become a "global retail conglomerate." And it's well on its way. ...
