Shipping Company Ditches Forever 21 Because Business Is Too Slow To Be Profitable

Image courtesy of Mike Mozart

In a sign of the sad state of retail these days, a company that delivered clothing to Forever 21’s stores is canceling its contract with the chain, saying business has slowed down to the point where it just isn’t profitable anymore.

EZ Worldwide Express is trimming down operations after filing for bankruptcy in January, and that includes exiting its partnership with Forever 21, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The agreement had EZ Worldwide Express as the retailer’s exclusive carrier for at least 171 stores until 2019. But although payments from Forever 21 made up almost half of the shipping firm’s annual revenue, the retailer’s “business has declined precipitously,” EZ Worldwide Express lawyers said in court documents cited by WSJ.

“[Weekly] sales to Forever 21 have ranged from a low of $352,483 to a high of $428,764,” EZ Worldwide Express lawyers said in a document filed May 20. “These numbers are drastically lower than the same five-week period last year, where weekly sales ranged from $629,817 to $780,730.”

While some reports seem to indicate that EZ Worldwide did the dumping, Forever 21 said in a statement that the company and EZ Worldwide “came to an agreement to separate, after EZ’s difficult financial conditions meant that it could no longer provide the same delivery services.”

“Forever 21 looked at different financing options to assist EZ during its difficult financial time in order to continue the relationship, but were unable to come to an agreement,” the company said in the statement. “Accordingly, Forever 21 transitioned to other delivery providers and accepted the termination agreement with EZ, in order to continue to provide the exceptional experience our customers have come to expect from us.”

Forever 21 is just one teen clothing retailer in a sea of former mall hotspots to be struggling right now in the face of online shopping: DEB, Wet Seal, and dELiA*s, have closed their doors, while PacSun and Aeropostale both filed for bankruptcy protection.

Forever 21 Shipping Firm Drops Retailer, Citing Slow Business [The Wall Street Journal]

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