Forever 21 fades with fast-fashion craze

Clothing chain Forever 21 said Sunday it would close up to 178 of its U.S. stores and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Los Angeles company operates about 800 stores globally, including more than 500 in the United States. Forever 21 plans to close most of its locations in Asia and Europe but continue operating in Mexico and Latin America.

Is this part of a trend? So far this year, publicly traded U.S. retailers have announced the closure of 8,558 stores, compared to 3,446 openings, according to Coresight Research. The research firm estimates up to 12,000 stores could close by the end of 2019. Forever 21 suffered from the decreasing popularity of fast fashion, or low-priced, cheaply made clothing that caters to teens and trends.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Hickman’s report in Muse about Forever 21’s free gift faux pas in July.