Shadowing Practice: The Rise And Fall Of Forever 21 | Rise And Fall | Business Insider - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Forever 21 was once among America's fastest-growing fast-fashion retailers.
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Forever 21 was once among America's fastest-growing fast-fashion retailers.
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It transformed its once penniless founders into billionaires, established itself as a powerhouse in the fast-fashion world, and, at its peak, made $4.4 billion in revenue.
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But the once flush company is now preparing to file for bankruptcy.
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So, what happened?
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Back in the day, Forever 21 embodied the American dream.
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In 1981, Jin Sook and Do Won "Don" Chang moved to Los Angeles from South Korea with no money, no college degrees, and speaking little English.
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To make ends meet, Jin Sook worked as a hairdresser while Don worked as a janitor, pumped gas, and served coffee.
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Until he noticed that "the people who drove the nicest cars were all in the garment business." So three years later, with $11,000 in savings, the Changs opened a 900-square-foot clothing store called Fashion 21.
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The couple took advantage of wholesale closeouts to buy merchandise from manufacturers at a discount.
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Their system worked.
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The store made $700,000 in sales its first year.
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Fashion 21 was initially only popular with LA's Korean American community.
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But the Changs leveraged their success, opening new stores every six months, which broadened the company's customer base at the same time.
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They also changed the name to Forever 21 to emphasize the idea that it was "for anyone who wants to be trendy, fresh and young in spirit." The company's key to success was simple: cultivate a huge following by selling trendy clothing for low prices.
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While this is something that today's consumers pretty much expect, Forever 21 was one of the first to do it.
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And they were the fastest.
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Jin Sook was eventually approving over 400 designs a day.
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Which meant the company could sell trends as they were happening.
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Even if some of those designs landed Forever 21 in trouble.
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But while other brands and designers might not have been Forever 21's biggest fans, customers couldn't get enough of their affordable styles.
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As a result, Forever 21 became one of the largest tenants of American malls, with 480 locations nationwide.
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And by 2015, business was booming.
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Forever 21's sales peaked, with $4.4 billion in global sales that year.
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As for the Changs?
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They became one of America's wealthiest couples, with a combined net worth reaching an estimated $5.9 billion in March 2015.
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Forever 21's goal was to become an $8 billion company by 2017 and open 600 new stores in three years.
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But the company's aggressive expansion would also lead to its downfall.
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Part of what made Forever 21 popular in the first place was its fast-fashion model.
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Even though its products were always mass-produced, they still felt unique because its stores only sold select styles for a limited time.
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However, as the company focused on growing bigger, its styles became more "cookie-cutter." As a result, Forever 21 started to lose touch with its core customers, while competitors like H&M and Zara rose.
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No longer the trendsetter, Forever 21 became the butt of the joke.
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It's also no longer the fastest in the game.
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Internet brands like Fashion Nova churn out celebrity- and influencer-inspired styles at a rapid-fire pace.
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And as e-commerce has continued to boom, traditional retailers like Forever 21 have struggled to adapt to changing consumer behaviors.
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According to a March 2019 survey, millennials make 60% of their purchases online and overall prefer online shopping over going to a physical store.
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Yet, Forever 21 continued opening new stores as recently as 2016, even expanding existing stores to take over multiple floors with mens, childrens, and home-goods sections.
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Which could help explain why Forever 21's sales are estimated to have dropped by 20% to 25% in 2018.
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On top of that, the Changs, who still own the company, have lost more than $4 billion from their personal net worths.
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The company overall is now $500 million in debt and considering filing for bankruptcy.
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Forever 21 has already started downsizing its stores.
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And as one of the largest tenants of America's malls, a widespread shutdown of Forever 21 could exacerbate what's already being referred to as the "retail apocalypse," which has already closed more than 15,000 retailers across the US and could shut down 75,000 more, according to investment firm UBS.
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But bankruptcy doesn't always mean the end for a company.
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In fact, it could give Forever 21 time to restructure and bounce back.
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The company could shut down its least profitable stores and try rebranding itself.
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But in an age of cheap internet boutiques and fast-fashion empires, this might not be enough.
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So it turns out Forever 21 might not be forever after all.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice English by exploring the rise and fall of Forever 21, a once-prominent fast-fashion retailer. You will gain insights into its journey from a small clothing store opened by immigrant founders to a billion-dollar business, followed by its struggle for survival in the competitive retail landscape. Through this engaging content, you will improve your English pronunciation and speaking skills while deepening your understanding of business terminology and concepts. This lesson aims to enhance your listening and speaking abilities through the shadowing technique, allowing you to mimic the video’s tone and speed.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Fast-fashion - A retail concept focused on quickly producing trendy clothing items at affordable prices.
  • Bankruptcy - A legal status when a company can no longer pay its debts and may restructure or close.
  • Expansion - The process of growing or enlarging a business, often through opening new locations or broadening the product range.
  • Consumer behavior - The study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources on consumption-related items.
  • Trendsetter - An individual or company that leads the way in fashion or trends.
  • E-commerce - Buying and selling goods or services over the internet.
  • Retail apocalypse - A term describing the rapid decline of physical retail stores, largely due to competition from online shopping.
  • Rebranding - The process of changing the corporate image, branding, or marketing strategy of a company to attract new customers.

Practice Tips

To get the most out of this lesson and enhance your English speaking practice, utilize the shadowing technique while watching the video. Here are some specific tips to help you:

  • Watch the video multiple times: Focus on different aspects each time, including tone, pace, and pronunciation.
  • Speak along: As you listen, try to mimic the speaker's rhythm and intonation. Pay particular attention to how they emphasize certain words and phrases.
  • Slow it down: If needed, use playback settings to slow the video. This can help you catch difficult phrases and improve your pronunciation.
  • Record yourself: After shadow speaking, try recording your voice. Compare your pronunciation to the original speaker’s to identify areas for improvement.
  • Vocabulary usage: Incorporate the new vocabulary from the lesson into everyday conversations or practice sentences. This will solidify your understanding and usage of these terms.

By frequently practicing with these techniques, you can significantly improve your spoken English, enhance your comprehension, and build confidence in your speaking abilities.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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