Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time as traffic in U.S. shopping malls fades and competition from online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein intensifies.

F21 OpCo, which runs Forever 21 stores, said late Sunday that it will wind down the business in the U.S. under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while determining if it can continue as a business with a partner, or if it will sell some or all of its assets.

“While we have evaluated all options to best position the company for the future, we have been unable to find a sustainable path forward, given competition from foreign fast fashion companies, which have been able to take advantage of the de minimis exemption to undercut our brand on pricing and margin,” Chief Financial Officer Brad Sell said in a statement.

The de minimis tax exemption lets shipments headed to U.S. businesses and consumers valued at less than $800 to enter the country tax free and duty free.

Forever 21 stores in the U.S. will hold liquidation sales and the website will continue to run while operations wind down. The retailer’s locations outside of the U.S. are run by other licensees and are not included in the bankruptcy filing. International store locations and websites will continue operating as normal.

Authentic Brands Group owns the international intellectual property associated with the Forever 21 brand and may license the brand to other operators, F21OpCo said.

Forever 21 first filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019. It was acquired by a consortium of parties including Authentic Brands Group and mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners.

Forever 21 was founded in 1984 and, along with other fast-fashion chains like H&M and Zara, rode a wave of popularity among young customers in the mid-1990s. Their popularity grew during the Great Recession, when shoppers were seeking bargains. But Forever 21 went on an aggressive expansion just as shoppers were moving more online.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement that part of the problem now is that Forever 21’s stores are too big for its current needs and it’s in malls with not enough foot traffic.

“Forever 21 was always a retailer living on borrowed time. Over recent years it has been hit with dual headwinds from a weak apparel market and stiff competition from cheap Chinese marketplaces,” he said. “Both things have eroded its standing and depleted its market share.”

NEW YORK — Frontier Airlines is attempting for a second time to merge with the now bankrupt Spirit Airlines, which declared bankruptcy late last year as budget airlines struggle.

Frontier Group Holdings Inc., the parent company of Frontier Airlines, said Wednesday that the proposed deal would include newly issued Frontier debt and common stock.

Frontier tried to merge with Spirit in 2022 but was outbid by JetBlue. However, the Justice Department sued to block the $3.8 billion JetBlue deal, saying it would drive up prices for Spirit customers who depend on low fares, and a federal judge agreed in January. JetBlue and Spirit dropped their merger bid two months later.

Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection in November. The biggest U.S. budget airline, Spirit filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition after working out terms with bondholders. The airline has lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020 and faces looming debt payments totaling more than $1 billion in 2025 and 2026.

The biggest U.S. airlines have snagged some of Spirit’s budget-conscious customers by offering their own brand of bare-bones tickets. And fares for U.S. leisure travel — Spirit’s core business — sagged this past summer because of a glut of new flights.

Frontier is optimistic that it can get a deal done this time around.

“This proposal reflects a compelling opportunity that will result in more value than Spirit’s standalone plan by creating a stronger low fare airline with the long-term viability to compete more effectively and enter new markets at scale,” Frontier Chair Bill Franke said in a statement. “We stand ready to continue discussions with Spirit and its financial stakeholders and believe that we can promptly reach agreement on a transaction.”

Frontier said that since it submitted its offer, it has had talks with members of Spirit’s board, management team, and representatives of Spirit’s financial stakeholders.

In a regulatory filing, Spirit said that it had received a proposal from Frontier earlier this month and after reviewing it, found that the offer would be less beneficial to its shareholders that its existing plan. It said that barring any new developments, it would move forward with its own plans to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Shares of Frontier Group rose more than 2% before the opening bell on Wednesday.

DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he is ditching his longtime affiliation with the Democratic Party and will launch a run for Michigan governor as an independent in 2026.

“It’s clear to me that there are a lot of people in this country who are tired of both parties and tired of the system,” Duggan said in an interview on Tuesday. “And so I want to offer people a choice.”

Duggan, 66, is credited by many for leading Detroit after it emerged from bankruptcy to become a thriving, more vibrant city. He formally announced his intentions in a video released Wednesday morning but discussed them ahead of time with The Associated Press. He hopes to succeed popular Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited under Michigan law.

The mayor’s decision comes in the midst of a reckoning for Democrats in Michigan, one of a handful of swing states that helped propel former President Donald Trump to victory in November. The Democratic Party, which only two years previously had claimed a majority in both houses of the Legislature for the first time in decades, suffered setbacks at the ballot box that left state Democrats scrambling for explanations and a path forward.

Still, few would have anticipated the mayor of the state’s largest city and biggest Democratic stronghold abandoning his party altogether.

Duggan said he felt he could govern more effectively as an independent.

“You have a (state) legislature that’s almost evenly divided that makes the stakes of each issue become magnified,” he said. “It has gotten harder and harder to address things as the partisan climate has gotten more toxic.”

Duggan also could be looking to avoid what is shaping up as a crowded Democratic primary field. Among the potential contenders are Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist III and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who relocated to Michigan in 2022, has also sparked speculation about a potential Democratic gubernatorial bid. When asked by the AP on Nov. 3 about a potential candidacy, Buttigieg left the door open, stating, “Right now, it’s hard to see past Election Day. After that, I’ll figure out how to make myself useful. But what I know is I really care about what happens in this state.”

On the Republican side, prospective candidates include Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former state Attorney General Mike Cox, former state Rep. Tom Leonard and U.S. Rep. John James. Tudor Dixon, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2022, is also considering another run.

Duggan said he thinks he can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.

“I expect to pull votes away from both allowing me to win,” he said. “That’s the only scenario that I’ve thought about.”

A Duggan run as an independent, while it further fractures a state Democratic Party still reeling from Trump’s win in November, could win over voters looking outside the party for answers.

There is precedent. Then-U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona made the move in 2022 to independent. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin did the same last spring.

Several states have elected independent governors since 1990, Duggan noted, including Angus King in Maine, now a U.S. senator.

“The pattern you’ve seen over and over is when the Democratic Party moved too far left or the Republican Party moved too far right you had a candidate step in and say I want to represent the whole state,” Duggan said. “This isn’t something that hasn’t happened before. We’ve studied all of those races.”

But an independent has never served as Michigan governor and third-party candidates typically don’t fare well in elections for the state’s top seat. Libertarian Party candidate Mary Buzuma received a scant 0.9% of the vote in 2022.

“If you think the two-party system is serving you well, you can vote for your Republican or Democratic candidate,” Duggan said. “But if you think the only way we can really change the quality of life in Michigan is a different way, I’m going to give people the alternative, an independent who is going to go to Lansing and work with responsible leadership in both parties.”

Last month, Duggan announced that the coming year would be his last as Detroit’s mayor. His current term ends in January 2026. Duggan said he then plans to ”go to communities across the state that have been forgotten and sit in neighborhood restaurants and farmhouses and city centers and listen to people.”

“And I’m going to start by doing that and not take the approach that some people are unimportant,” he added. “I’m not going to write anybody off.”

Duggan spent about eight years as chief executive of the Detroit Medical Center. He served three years as Wayne County prosecutor and 14 years as deputy county executive.

He was the top vote-getter in Detroit’s 2013 mayoral primary despite running a write-in campaign due to a ballot challenge. Duggan, who is white, was elected in November 2013 to lead mostly Black Detroit which that summer was taken into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history by a state-appointed manager.

Long-term debt of $18 billion or more and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual budget deficits left Detroit broke and nearly broken. Crime was high and neighborhood blight was rampant. Unemployment and poverty rates were among the nation’s highest.

Taking office in January 2014, Duggan ran the city but initially had no control over spending. By that December, Detroit had emerged from bankruptcy with about $7 billion in debt erased or restructured.

Over the past decade, Detroit routinely has had balanced city budgets and surpluses. Violent crime is down and neighborhoods mostly are cleaner. Detroit’s population even increased slightly in 2023. It was the first uptick since the 1950s when 1.8 million people called the city home.

“I feel like I did what I set out to do,” Duggan told the AP last month. “I was born here. I grew up here. I watched the decline and I felt like I could help. Today, we’re in a very different place in the city.”

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Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this story.