We shopped at the last 3 Forever 21s in Manhattan since the company filed for bankruptcy and saw firsthand why the brand continues to struggle

• The former fast-fashion empire of Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2019.
• Since then, the company has closed all-but-three of its locations in Manhattan, and it could close 178 underperforming stores throughout the US and 350 globally in 2020.
• Forever 21 accepted a deal to sell to several mall owners for $81 million on February 3, which will be solidified if no other interested parties offer more money by February 7.
• We visited the last three Forever 21s in Manhattan and saw first-hand why the company continues to struggle.
• We saw why Forever 21 couldn’t win over the sustainably-minded Gen Z – their clothing appeared to be cheaply made and not built to last.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

---

I began my tour of Manhattan’s last remaining Forever 21s at the Soho location, which Yelpers have reported as already closed.

Source: Yelp

---

But the store is still very much open.

---

The first thing I noticed about this location was how organized it appeared.

---

I started shopping at Forever 21 a decade ago, and I’ve never seen a location this neat and organized.

---

What shocked me the most was that there was only one sale rack …

---

… which was one of the only messy areas of the store.

---

While discount signs were present throughout the store, there was no sale-specific area aside from that rack.

---

As soon as I entered the store, I grabbed one of these shopping bags and began browsing.

---

First, I grabbed these pants from the “Winter Collection.”

---

After tossing them into my shopping bag, I realized that the bag had a gaping hole in the bottom of it.

---

I continued to make my way around the store as I grabbed a variety of clothing items to try on.

---

I skipped these bike shorts because they were rough to the touch. They felt like sandpaper.

---

I even hit the men’s department — which appeared to be untouched. In fact, the whole store kind of felt this way.

---

There were hardly any people in the store, and most of them seemed to be working there, though none made an effort to engage with me.

---

After picking various items, I headed to the dressing room to try everything on and see if anything seemed to be built to last.

---

The first thing I tried on was this corduroy-style shirt that was riddled with loose threads.

---

One look at the tag and it wasn’t clear what the shirt was made of, but it wasn’t very comfortable.

---

The next thing I tried on was an oversized denim jacket — a Gen Z closet staple.

---

After glancing at the tag, I saw that the denim jacket wasn’t made from 100% cotton.

Source: Naturally Savvy

---

Materials included polyester, a petroleum-based synthetic fabric that has no absorbency. The jacket felt paper-thin …

Source: Ecocult

---

… and stiff. This was a sorry excuse for a jacket in my opinion.

---

Next, I checked the material of the “winter” pants I picked up. According to the New York Times, work pants built to last should be made of Tencel or wool. But these pants were pretty much just polyester.

---

They looked decent on, but they felt as warm as a pair of see-through tights. I would never buy them for a winter in New York.

---

This is the face I made when I unzipped the “winter” pants and they pinched my belly. Ouch.

---

Next, I tried on this cropped pullover sweater that was certainly my size but disproportionately designed — I could barely get my head through the neck hole, and when I did, it choked my neck slightly.

---

Next, I tried this overly-distressed sweater on.

---

Normally, I like a distressed article of clothing, but this sweater felt like it could actually unravel at any moment.

---

I also tried on this shirt and thought that these sunglasses would likely come off after just one wash.

---

The last thing I tried on was this onesie because it had a $50 price tag a month after Christmas. I thought maybe this wasn’t on sale because it was so comfy, but it wasn’t comfy at all. The price is still a mystery to me.

---

I didn’t find anything that seemed it would last at Forever 21, but I checked out the cash register anyway, which seemed to house the most random collection of snacks and junk.

---

Next, I headed to the Penn Station location, which is expected to close this year.

Source: Business Insider

---

I immediately noticed there were more sale signs at this location than the store in Soho.

---

Inside, there was an "Up to 60% off storewide" sign, which made this location feel more like a store that's about to close.

---

This location was messier than Soho.

---

It was also bigger than the Soho store and felt like slightly less of a ghost-town.

---

But it featured the same cheaply-made clothing.

---

There were some clothes I could see my hand through. This is a sign the piece won't last long.

Source: The New York Times

---

This location also had its own Riley Rose store — Forever 21's beauty branch that will reportedly be closing all its stores.

Source: Allure

---

When I took a quick peek in the store, it seemed like it was already ramping down.

---

There were many sale shelves that were mostly empty.

---

And while there were "try me" stickers everywhere ...

---

... there didn't seem to be any wands or swabs to apply makeup.

---

There were only bottles of alcohol and makeup remover on a tiny dirty table.

---

Did they really expect me to apply eye shadow from this used palette with my fingers?

---

Back in Forever 21, this location had all the sale racks I expected to see at the Soho location.

---

I even found the Christmas onesie that wasn't in a sale section at the Soho location.

---

A price menu showed low costs that were just too good to be true for well-made clothing.

---

Some of the sale racks were mostly empty too.

---

The third and final Forever 21 location in New York is the flagship store in Times Square.

---

This was by far the biggest — and the busiest— of the three remaining locations.

---

It also had quite a few empty racks ...

---

... scattered throughout the store.

---

There were some empty areas where I couldn't even tell what was supposed to be displayed there.

---

I found more pieces of clothing that looked nice on the rack but seemed to be cheaply made after examining them.

---

This location also had many sale racks ...

---

The rooms full of sale racks just looked like piles of unwanted junk.

---

And the price menu confirmed this with its ridiculously low prices.

---

This was the only location that had a line for the dressing room, which may be a good sign for this location's longevity.

---

Ultimately, all three stores gave off a similar vibe — "we wish people were here."