Article

Top 100: 65. Forever 21

March 29, 2011

Forever 21 grew during the recession by taking advantage of liquidation sales and abandoned retail spaces. This past spring, the LA-based fashion retailer set up a new flagship in the former Virgin Megastore Times Square location. The store is a trendy mix of strategic concepts and site-specific décor, such as graffiti-tagged taxi and store-within-a-store neighborhood sections, including a men’s department with exposed brick and hanging scales in homage to Manhattan’s meatpacking district. Meanwhile, a Sears in California recently announced it was giving up 15 percent of its floor space — some 43,000 square feet — to a Forever 21 store-within-a-store in exchange for rental revenue and some much-needed fashion pizzazz.

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