Fast fashion retailers Shein and Forever 21 struck a major deal aimed at cross-promoting brands to a similar audience of younger apparel shoppers heading into a closely-watched holiday season. It’s a marriage of mall, retail and brand experience with a production and distribution machine driven by tech and social savvy. But there’s a shadow cast by concerns over Shein’s business practices.
Marketers are wondering what issues they should be considering as metaverse marketing becomes a must have. Five issues to keep top of mind: balancing branding and performance; campaign buying methodologies; developing new metrics; what customer data will look like; and how to build secure experiences.
Reversing course, Authentic Brands Group, owner of over 30 retail properties including Aeropostale, Forever 21, Fredericks of Hollywood and Barney’s New York, is selling significant equity stakes to CVC Capital Partners and HPS Investment Partners instead of pursuing an IPO.
Forever 21 has struck an $81 million deal to sell its assets to a group of mall owners and management operations, including Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties and brand development/marketing venture Authentic Brands Group. It includes all of Forever 21’s assets and must be approved by a bankruptcy court judge.
Coresight Research reported a total of 9,275 U.S. store closures by major retailers in 2019, 35% higher than the 6,897 closures recorded in 2018 as the bleeding continues. Closings outpaced store openings more than 2 to 1, Coresight found, with 4,454 new doors in 2019, compared to 4,311 in 2018.
After months of speculation, apparel retailer Forever 21 announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company had been exploring restructuring options to avoid liquidation as its business struggles continue.
Bolt, a San Francisco-based ecommerce checkout startup that aims to give ecommerce and DTC companies an Amazon-like experience at the bottom of the funnel, has raised $68 million in a Series B round, bringing its total venture raise to $90 million.