Forever 21 makes Australian debut

forever-21-onlineForever 21 has opened the doors of its first Australian store in Brisbane’s Queen St Mall.

The two level 1900sqm is part of the Next Hotel , formerly known as Lennons, and will carry men’s, women’s, childrenswear, and plus size clothing, with stock to be delivered daily.

It will be followed by the opening of a second store in December at Sydney’s Macquarie Centre, which today celebrates its grand opening following an extensive redevelopment and expansion.

The Brisbane store will officially open at 10am, with US-based founder and CEO, Don Chang, to be present at the opening, along with Australian singer Alli Simpson, sister of Cody Simpson, and Lisa from TV show, The Bachelor.

Free watches will be given to some of the first customers, with other gifts to be distributed throughout the day.

The opening is expected to draw large crowds to the Brisbane CBD shopping precinct, with Forever 21 just the second international brand to land in Brisbane, following the opening of Topshop earlier this year.

Forever 21 was founded by US immigrant Chang, and his wife in Los Angeles in 1984. Since then, it has grown to more than 600 stores globally, with 600 more planned to open in the next three years.

The Australian license is held by Sharaf Retail, a Dubai-based business with interests in retail, real estate (including Dubai shopping centre, Times Square Center), logistics, IT, travel, finance, and industry.

Sharaf is responsible for Forever 21’s presence in the Middle East as well as Australian brand, Cotton on, Sharaf DG, Sanrio (owner of Hello Kitty), Woolworths (South Africa), Adventure HQ, Yellow Hat, YooMoo, and Hello Kitty Spa.

Forever 21’s biggest competitor is H&M, which today opens its second store and first in Sydney at Macquarie Centre. The first H&M opened at Melbourne’s GPO in April.

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