Forever 21 announced plans to close its corporate headquarters in California, as well as close locations in several states.

The company filed WARN notices in several states over the past few weeks in California, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Washington, USA Today reported.

WARN stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification and is a federal law that requires companies to issue a 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs or closures.

In all, it plans to close at least 200 stores across the country as part of bankruptcy as it tries to find a buyer, the company said last month, according to The Orange County register.

Bloomberg reported that if no buyer is found, all of the more than 350 stores will likely close.

Forever 21 is based in Los Angeles, and will lay off more than 350 people, KTLA reported. It will also close locations in Orange, Riverside, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Montclair, Santa Ana, Lakewood and Cerritos, in the Golden State. Those will close by May, according to the newspaper.

In Pennsylvania, all stores are expected to close, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In a notice filed with the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, the company’s chief financial officer, Bradley Sell, said, “These closures are necessary because economic realities require the company to restructure its business operations.”

In Washington state, at least one will be closing according to KPQ News Radio.

Three of six locations are slated to close in Connecticut, according to The Connecticut Post.

Forever 21 was started as Fashion 21 in Los Angeles in 1984 by husband and wife Do Won and Jin Sook Chang. The chain was popular with teens and 20-year-olds and was known for being economical and on-trend, the Register reported.

At one point, Forever 21 had more than 500 locations in the U.S. and 800 worldwide, according to Bloomberg.

It filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and was acquired by Simon Property Group, Brookfield Property Partners and Authentic Brands Group the next year, the Inquirer reported.

Authentic Brands chief executive called the deal “probably the biggest mistake I made” in 2023, USA Today reported.

© 2025 Cox Media Group