Forever 21 Reportedly Wants to Scale Back Its Massive Stores

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Forever 21, plagued by the impossible task of filling its massive stores, has reportedly been in talks with mall owners about downsizing some of its largest locations. According to the Wall Street Journal, Forever 21 is reportedly trying to get rid of some of its space in Washington's Tacoma Mall, which currently stands at 100,000 square feet. Some of the largest Forever 21 stores opened in recent years include a Las Vegas location (127,000 square feet), Times Square (90,000 square feet), and San Bernardino, CA (94,000 square feet).

"Forever 21 was less disciplined than some of their competitors in terms of the size of the box they occupied," Gary Lewis, a real-estate consultant, told WSJ. "Now they are approaching landlords about taking some of that space back."

Although Forever 21 is a private company and doesn't have to make its financial data public, the retailer has reportedly been struggling recently. Brian Tunick, a retail analyst, estimated that sales at Forever 21's newest stores have been down for the past 12 months. The brand is working on securing a $150 million loan which could be used for international store expansion (it plans to open 100 new stores this year) but could also be put towards buying out store leases at weak European locations.