Time - USA (2019-10-14)

(Antfer) #1

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HONG KONG CHAOS Riot police pin down a young antigovernment protester in Hong Kong on
Sept. 29, two days before China’s National Day drew tens of thousands of demonstrators into the
streets to march for demands including universal suffrage. An 18-year-old protester was shot in the
chest, and law enforcement responded to gasoline bombs and homemade weapons with tear gas and
rubber bullets. According to official figures, 25 police officers and 66 protesters were injured.


NEWS


TICKER


Major floods
devastate
India

Unusually late
monsoon rains caused
devastating floods in
northern India, leading
to the deaths of at
least 100 people, offi-
cials said on Sept. 30.
The monsoon—the
most severe since
1994—left large areas
underwater, forcing
people to use lifeboats
to escape their homes.

Trump Admin
cuts refugee
quota

President Trump on
Sept. 26 limited the
number of refugees
who will be allowed
to settle in the U.S.
in the coming year to
18,000, down from
30,000 last year,
prompting condemna-
tion from human-rights
advocates. The Obama
Administration allowed
up to 110,000 refu-
gees to resettle in the
U.S. in 2017.

Morocco
judgment
sparks outrage

A Moroccan judge on
Sept. 30 sentenced
journalist Hajar Rais-
souni and her fiancé
to a year in prison,
after they were found
guilty of premarital
sex and getting an
abortion. They deny
an abortion happened,
and rights groups
see the case, which
sparked protests, as
part of a crackdown on
critical coverage of the
government.

american mall behemoTh Forever 21
achieved massive success in the 2000s by
selling inexpensive variations on the latest
styles, and now its decline is a window
into a different kind of trend. The chain,
founded in 1984 by a couple who had
immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea,
declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 29.
Forever 21 has said that it will terminate
operations in 40 countries and close up to
350 stores worldwide, and that up to 178 of
its 549 U.S. outlets will be liquidated.


OUT OF STYLE Industry analysts see the
store closings as a sign of shifting tastes on
both sides of Forever 21’s business model.
Some consumers have become less inclined
toward the cheap, disposable clothing for
which the retailer is known, turning instead
to brands that claim more sustainable or
ethical business models; others among
Forever 21’s young clientele are opting for
more nimble brands like Fashion Nova and
Shein, which lean even harder on trendiness.
“There’s a bit of a battle emerging between
the rise of conscious consumption and the
rise of ultrafast fashion,” explains Elizabeth
Cline, author of The Conscious Closet.


CHANGING ROOMS From a business per-
spective, Forever 21’s crisis may have been
caused more by management mistakes than
consumer forces. The brand got in trouble
by moving into overlarge spaces abandoned
by former retail anchors like Sears, and into
categories in which it lacked expertise, like
consumer electronics, argues Mark Cohen, a
professor of retail studies at Columbia Uni-
versity. The company also generated addi-
tional burdens with aggressive international
ventures. “Mindless expansion has been
Forever 21’s downfall,” Cohen says.

NOT BUYING IT Facing declining foot traf-
fic and rising online competition, retailers
from Payless ShoeSource to Toys “R” Us to
Barneys New York have also filed for bank-
ruptcy in recent years. In what’s been called
the “ retail apocalypse,” individual work-
ers have been hit the hardest; Forever 21’s
announcement has put the future of its
more than 30,000 employees at risk. And
they won’t be the last: consultants at the
firm Core sight Research have projected that
12,000 American brick-and-mortar stores
could close before the end of 2019.
—alejandro de la garza

THE BULLETIN


As Forever 21 files for bankruptcy, the


‘retail apocalypse’ marches on

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