Fashion & Style
Ladies Flock to Forever 21
Throngs of women, young and old, chasing the latest fashions -- and their youth -- lined up as early as 8:30 this morning at Yonge and Dundas for the opening of the new Forever 21 retail store.
By 10am opening time, over 60 people are in line. I chat with a bunch of young women already waiting over an hour in anticipation of the opening.
"I'm in my 30s, but I'd rather look like I'm in my 20s," says Eleanor Micallef, 31. Along with her friends Yo and Ange, they made the trip all the way from Brampton to get the forever 21 experience.
Even those younger than 21 already wish to be forever 21. Nicole, 17, was at the very front with her mom because she wants "to get the best of everything first." Why does she want to be forever 21? "More freedom.... And independence." I guess shopping has its privileges.
Nicole's mom Sarah says she's been to a Forever 21 store in Chicago, but it's a smaller store than the Toronto one. "I like the store because the prices are good and they've got up-to-date fashions."
Just then the doors open and customers pour into the store to the sounds of "Take Control" by Amerie. Lineups soon start forming at the change rooms. The accessories shelves are among the most popular areas, but leave many a young lady confused for the lack of nearby mirrors.
Adele Castanedo, 38, is the first through the cashier with two bracelets that total $18.66. "We were nearby and my husband went to get a coffee nearby and I just strolled in. At first I thought it was The Gap."
The Gap was the previous tenant at this prime location, now home to the second Forever 21 store in Canada, after Edmonton. The chain already has over 300 stores in the US with 70 planned for Canada.
"Our aim is to be very hip and now and very fashionable," says store manager Jeremy Cookson. "It's a mindset. Everybody wants to be 21."
Including me. But for now, only the ladies get to be forever 21. There's no men's section in the Toronto store.
But all hope is not lost. "We're launching a men's line in August," says Cookson. "Just in time for the back-to-school season." Now I'm especially glad to be going back to school in September.
After an hour of shopping I catch up with Micallef, who emerges with a new pair of black earrings and olive sunglasses, but is a little disappointed. "The Forever 21 store at the Walden Galleria in Buffalo is bigger and has better deals and selection. People in the US are way bigger, so there's a lot more smaller sizes still available."
Upon exiting Forever 21 Micallef and her two friends cross Dundas Street to shop at the H&M, where they're having a 50% off sale.
Discussion
36 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
This building is gorgeous architecturally. It merits a more sophisticated, upscale tenant not another bargain (cheap-chic) store.
What a disappointment!
Why isn't Yonge & Dundas viewed as prime retail for national and international investors?
Why isn't Toronto and the Yonge Street BIA marketing it as such???
Why do only bargain chains find this location appealing???
Dundas Square and Yonge Street are a testament to mediocrity and tackiness! Very disappointing.
And now I know.
That's why the only stores moving in here are cheap clothing shops, fast food joints, record stores, head shops, strip clubs, sex shops and bargain stores.
I agree it's a shame that Forever 21 has opened up here. This is not a cause for celebration.
I shudder to think that we're probably going to have two more tacky chains open up in the two gorgeous turn-of-the-century buildings across from the Eaton's Centre which have been empty and neglected for decades. I despair that this city will ever get anything right.
Please let's not celebrate another tacky bargain store taking over a historic building in our downtown.
Workers earned $4 an hour working 10 hours a day, six days a week, in a factory with no running water and one bathroom. Workers who protested were branded as troublemakers, attempts were made to silence them, and they were blacklisted and prevented from getting jobs in the industry.
Not a very nice addition to Toronto! :(
When I went to the Toronto location I was overwhelmed. Not because of the huge amounts of people, but because the clothes looked really cheap while the prices weren?t. For some reason their clothes looked like (an even worse version of) Urban Behaviour. In the American stores I could easily find quite unique pieces that I wouldn?t be able to find so easily in Toronto, but the Toronto store had absolutely nothing special, unique or different. And the prices are really much higher than the ones in the States; I agree with Ka, something that costs $22US should not cost $34CAN ? at that price I might as well keep shopping at H&M, where the quality is much better and you have a refund policy!
I havent been to the store but I guessed it, based on past experience and from what i've heard, looks like I wont be wasting my time. Besides...taking a trip to go shopping is totally worth it in my eyes and the selection is much better than you will find here, no matter what they tell you. Why should I have to spend 100's of dollars just for peace of mind that I wont be bumping into a clone of me wearing the exact same outfit at a club, mall, or even walking down the street. Another sad disappointment for Toronto....Montreal all the way!
Some are just ignorant and plain stupid. All they care about is looking expensive and in the process they sound like "rich snobs". They put themselves in that stereotype.
Either that or they want the best quality for dirt cheap....PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP AND GET REAL. If you look good, then you look good, it shouldn't matter where you shop or how much you can afford. The majority of the population are either middle-class or low-class citizens. Let the celebrities take care of the useless spending, why would an ordinary person with an annual income less than what they make in a day try that hard?
Being practical and realistic and smart gets you places, being spoiled and irresponsible gets you in debt.
To Whom It May Concern:
Upon recently hearing good things about your clothing line from a friend, I decided to see for myself at your Yonge and Dundas location. While the clothes had a lot of variety, being well designed and well priced, the service was beyond horrendous. None of the employees would answer any questions despite how basic they were, leaving me to question your abilities to hire employees. There is two universities nearby I wouldn?t imagine it to be too hard to hire someone with IQ higher than the clothes themselves. I had asked one employee who had been listening to her music on her ipod, a question and the look I had received upon bothering her was unacceptable, as if I had interrupted something extremely important. I understand that the store is meant to be appealing to a young fresh generation, by appearing to be ?cool or hip? but being 19 years of age, do not find the store any such thing. If anything I found it rude and uninviting. If I had wanted bad service I would have chosen to shop at a lower end clothing line. Meanwhile I would like to receive at least standard service, which your store seemed to lack greatly.
Amongst other things none of the employees seemed to want to be there, and were all standing around the centre of the store discussing who should go for coffee pick up while no one was supervising the change room, resulting in a massive line which took up halve the store. (Meanwhile the second change room upstairs remained closed.)
Once I had finally waited long enough for a change room, one of the employees had decided to ignore the line waiting for a change room and tried to find a room for something she would like to try on, resulting on her pounding on the change room doors while laughing with her fellow employees. (As unbelievable and shocking as this sounds, it all remains true.) Once the ordeal of the change room was over with, it had been time to pay, which was just as eventful. At the time there had only been one cashier opened and if not already assumed the store was experiencing quite a rush (mind you it was only four in the afternoon on a weekday, I can only start to imagine the lack of service on a Saturday afternoon), but for there to be only one cashier was quite a nuisance. And lest you forget that throughout the store many employees have been standing around folding the same article of clothing for an hour while discussing their social lives, but mind you standing next to the one cashier who was in fact a male was a female employee who were having a quite lively conversation none of which were business matters. While that social interaction may be normal on the streets it is simply intolerable within the workplace.
So in the end I would ask if you are aware of this low end service and unbearable behavior from your employees. In honestly how do these people get hired? They lack common curtsey, standard knowledge, lack of respect and knowledge of what is acceptable I the work place. NEVER in my life have I ever experience such service. In my opinion there should be a reassessment of the employees, since they are clearly not doing what they are asked for, when hired to provide customer service.
While the style of clothing and the atmosphere are perfect, personally I wouldn?t think of returning to shop in that location any time soon, and since there is no other location nearby, I may never return. And while there is the option of online shopping, it just isn?t as much engaging as trying things on and being immersed in the shopping frenzy.
So in the end I would like to ask for your option and if it was by company?s choice that such imbecile have been hired.
Thank you and I await your response.
Anna
<B> their response was a generic apology </B>
<a href="http://canada.forever21.com/";>http://canada.forever21.com/<;/a>
apparently if you spend more than $50 you get 20% off and if you spend more than $75, free shipping!
Honestly, seeing how this is an American store, I expected something different from what is sold in every store here in Canada, but forever 21 looked like any other Canadian store. I didn't even look at the prices, that would just add another disappointment for that day.