Rise And Fall

With thousands of store closures and petitions against Subway from its franchise owners, the fast-food chain with the most locations globally seems to be on the rocks. We unpack what's going on, and where Subway's headed from here.

At its peak, Forever 21 made $4.4 billion in revenue and was one of the fastest-growing fast fashion empires. Now after alienating its core customers and struggling to keep up with the rise of e-commerce, it has filed for bankruptcy. As one of the largest tenants of American malls, a large-scale shutdown of Forever 21's stores could exacerbate the ongoing retail apocalypse.

At one point in history, BlackBerry controlled 50% of the smartphone market in the US and 20% globally. But a failure to innovate and complacency with how the smartphone market was changing led to a sharp decline for the once omnipresent company.

In its 81-year run, the Beetle sold over 23 million units until in 2019 the final Beetle rolled off the line in Puebla, Mexico. After eight decades, has the Volkswagen Beetle finally hit the end of the road? Scott Keogh, Volkswagen America CEO, says "never say never."

You might not remember it, but at one point Hooters had an airline. Hooters Air launched in 2003, but closed about three years later. The company cited a number of reasons for the airline's failure, including a $40 million loss. We talked to people who worked for Hooters Air, and they told us what it was really like to work for the airline

After years of struggling, 2017 looked like the end for Applebee's. The restaurant chain rose to popularity in the 1990s thanks to its affordable menu but had a tough time drawing diners back in following the 2008 recession. It tried to reinvent itself to appeal to millennial diners but failed. However, in 2018, Applebee's made a shocking comeback.

Playboy's best selling issue sold more than 7 million copies. At the peak of its print circulation, Hugh Hefner's magazine generated $12 million in revenue. Hefner's Playboy empire expanded to include the Playboy clubs, an E! reality TV show and sold billions of dollars worth of merchandise. But today, Playboy is a mere shell of what it once was.