Los Angeles-based retailer Forever 21 Inc., popular among teenagers, will unveil a larger store at Opry Mills this fall as part of an aggressive national expansion plan, at a time when some retailers are shuttering stores and curtailing growth.
The new store — called Forever XXI — will be more than double the size of a regular Forever 21 at 20,445 square feet and will offer a wider selection of clothes, said spokeswoman Meghan Bryan.
There are only 39 Forever XXI stores in the nation, and Opry Mills' will be the state's first such location. Opry Mills is getting a bigger location in large part because the chain's 7,000-square-foot store there performed well, Bryan said.
The new Forever XXI will move into the former Tower Records space at Opry Mills, said Lynn Kittel, the mall's marketing manager. Tower Records closed in December 2006.
The move at Opry Mills is part of Forever 21's plan to add at least 27 Forever XXI locations nationwide, Bryan said. The expansion comes at a time when "there is little driving consumer spending other than staples and basic" items, according to the New York-based trade association International Council of Shopping Centers.
That could lead to an increase in stores going dark.
The council projected 2008 closings could reach 5,770 stores nationwide, the highest number since 2004, according to a report earlier this year. Last year, there were 4,603 store closings, with about 12 percent representing apparel stores, the report said.
But Bryan said Forever XXI would be useful to shoppers because "our business offers products at a great value, which is attractive to customers at this economically difficult time."
Analyst Brady Lemos of Morningstar said cost-conscious consumers could be drawn to so-called fast-fashion stores like Forever 21 and Swedish retailer H&M that produce lower-priced merchandise modeled after runway designs.
"The fashion type of runway items coming from Italy are out of reach," Lemos said. "This is a less expensive way of getting that fashion."
Mall hasn't filled spaceIn eight years, H&M has opened 151 U.S. stores, mostly in the eastern half of the country. In the West, it has two stores in Las Vegas and more throughout California. Internationally, it has a much larger presence, with 1,500 stores in 28 countries.
There has been a lease offered to another retailer to move to Forever 21's current space, but it has not been signed, said Kittel, who declined to reveal the mall's overall vacancy rate or details of Forever XXI's lease.
Generally, the number of stores closing in malls, aids Forever 21's strategy of gaining more mall space, said Kelly Tackett, a senior consultant for Columbus, Ohio-based TNS Retail Forward.
"Forever 21, basically is looking to capitalize on an increasing amount of open real estate in shopping centers and malls as other retailers pare back expansion plans or close existing stores," Tackett said. "This should enable Forever 21 to get some new retail space at attractive prices, which is going to help their expansion."
Kittel said the addition of Forever XXI would help draw teens to Opry Mills despite projections from some national analysts that teen spending is weakening compared to a year ago.
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