Saturday marked the grand opening of the 2-story Forever 21, located at 1025 F Street, NW in the old Woodies Building. Not being a D.C. native I didn’t realize just how big of a deal the opening of this location is to native Washingtonians.

However, I realized how serious it was once I got there and saw that the line of people waiting to get inside was wrapped around the block. We were told that the first 400 customers in line would receive a gift card anywhere from the amount of $5 to $200 (I lucked up and got one worth $100). Yes!

The store was set to open up at 10 a.m., though surprisingly enough they let us in an extra 30 minutes earlier.



When I walked into the store I was astonished at all of the merchandise! I can imagine that one could spend a good couple of hours shifting through all of the clothing placed throughout the store. As I made my way through the different sections, I tried to take a few pictures until I was halted by management. I saw all of Forever 21’s assorted clothing lines including their children’s line, HTG81 Kids (the only line I didn’t see was Faith 21; their plus size line [Editor's Note: The Faith 21 line is located on the bottom floor near the shoe department]).



The design of the store was appealing and the mannequins were eye-catching and well- dressed. Considering that there are two floors, it was easier to move through the swarming crowd. The majority of people had shopping bags full of merchandise. Due to the massive crowd, I ended up waiting in the checkout line for a good 25 minutes. But it was worth it considering all of my clothes were free!



Is there anything particularly special about this specific Forever 21? Minus the location, I would say no. I think the location in Pentagon City could compete with it. I do think it is awesome that this location has two floors which obviously gives more space for more clothes and a nicer layout. I just hope they are able to keep everything in decent order and less chaotic than other locations. [Editor's Note: I stopped in Forever 21 on Sunday and was amazed at how you were able to easily move around and shop. Most of the other locations are crammed full, making it difficult to shop.]).