Once-Prominent Mall Stores Didn't Last Forever In Connecticut — Here's What Happened

CONNECTICUT — The fallout from a mid-March filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has sent what were the six remaining Connecticut stores of a once-mighty mall-based clothing fixture into darkness.

Indeed, every Connecticut Forever 21 store is now gone.

Here was what happened with phone calls to each remaining store Tuesday:

• Manchester — number no longer in service
• Farmington/West Hartford — endless ringing, no answer
• Trumbull — endless ringing, no answer
• Milford — number no longer in service
• Mashantucket — number no longer in service
• Waterford — number no longer in service

Two Connecticut stores began the closing process after a February precautionary announcement and four more followed after the March Chapter 11 filing.

An accompanying statement read: "To Our Valued Customers ... After careful deliberation, we have made the decision to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. We are deeply grateful for the support you have shown us over the years, but rising costs and increased competition from abroad have made our current business model unsustainable."

Store closing sales commenced immediately after the Chapter 11 filing.

Subsequently, in Manchester at the Buckland Hills mall, shoppers and mall walkers had encountered, "Store closing ... Everything must go," placards on the front of the store. A staff member answering the phone said no formal shuttering date had been declared while adding "come and see what we got," rather than guess at a final day.

At Waterford's Crystal Mall, the store was to close "whenever we sell out" of sale inventory, a staffer said last month.

It turns out, the stores did not make it to May.

When the Chapter 11 filing was posted, it applied to Forever 21’s operations in the United States. Forever 21 stores outside of the U.S. were to continue to operate "business as usual," officials said.