Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., the licensee of U.S. fast-fashion retailer Forever21 in India, is reducing store count and cutting costs for Forever21 in the country amid declining sales in the fast fashion segment, Mint reported Feb. 5, citing company official.
The Indian-branded fashion goods retailer reported a loss of 230 million Indian rupees in the fast-fashion segment during the quarter ended December 2017. The loss was due to Forever21 incurring a one-time inventory hit of about 150 million to 160 million rupees, the report said, citing Ashish Dikshit, managing director of Aditya Birla Fashion's Madura Lifestyle business.
"We recognize that the current business needed significant restructuring — store resizing, a new store model, renegotiations," Dikshit said, discussing the Forever21 brand.
Aditya Birla Fashion will reduce the size of its oldest stores and new stores it opens will be smaller, the report said, citing Dikshit.
As of Feb. 5, US$1 was equivalent to 64.06 Indian rupees.
