According to a new story from Forbes, nine major apparel brands could go under in the next twelve months.
As the story notes, apparel was the one of the retail sector’s worst performers in 2017: “[Clothing] and clothing accessories stores saw only a 1.1% increase over [the] previous year.
Even more troubling, is that this anemic growth might now be the industry standard. “Signs are that fashion retail has entered a new normal, near-steady state, with sales growth leveling at about 1% in 2016 and 2017, after rising over 2% in 2013 through 2015.”
Because of this “new normal,” nine big name retailers could shutter before 2018 ends, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Guess?, J. Crew and True Religion (who filed for bankruptcy in 2017).
Delving into the specifics of each brand’s shaky status, the story explains that Abercrombie is essentially being propped up by in-house soft drink, Hollister, Gap is planning to close 200 namesake and Banana Republic stores, “betting heavily on [Altheta and Old Navy]”, J. Crew’s future seems to be hinging on the success of Madewell, and, it turns out that even A$AP Rocky couldn’t save Guess? from obscurity.
The full list is below:
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- Chico’s
- Eddie Bauer
- BCBG Max Azaria
- Gap
- Guess?
- J. Crew
- Loft
- True Religion
You can read more about it at Forbes.
