Business failures, costly decisions and the lessons they leave behind.
The full archive, in the appWanhua's 50-year-old Asia Watch & Jewelry closed in 2023 after 2–3 years of losses: customers bought watches online and came in only for free strap adjustments.
Read the caseFranco Pianegonda shipped ~€2M of his own brand's jewelry to his US arm — P.F. srl bankrupt in 2014, founder convicted in 2022.
Read the caseAmi Colé shut down in September 2025 after rising costs and waning investor appetite for diversity-focused brands made growth unsustainable.
Read the caseFlower Beauty, the drugstore makeup line by Drew Barrymore and Maesa, shut down in September 2025 when Maesa exited color cosmetics entirely.
Read the caseA community fresh-food chain backed by a property developer closed all 42 stores after real-estate management replaced retail thinking
Read the caseFrance's No. 2 contract caterer grew on debt. It had already sold its best division for €1.4bn when COVID hit — and still got taken over by a waste firm.
Read the caseFive Guys' Korean operator sought a buyer in July 2025, just two years after opening, after structural costs made even a profitable store network unsustainable.
Read the caseOnce China's most valuable local brand at ¥10.9B and 5,214 stores, Peacebird closed 1,841 outlets by 2024 as revenue fell three straight years.
Read the caseThe iconic Japanese 'bookstore you can enjoy' closed 30% of its stores after centralized buying replaced the employee curation that made it special.
Read the caseThe ex-Hema founder spent ¥180M building a fresh pet-food chain. By month 9 all stores were shut and he admitted he 'did not understand the industry'.
Read the caseSilkFred, a London marketplace hosting 500+ indie brands, entered administration on 29 October 2025 — platform deactivated, customers seeking refunds.
Read the caseA sexual misconduct lawsuit was settled in July 2025; days later ESPN said the Hall of Famer 'will not return' to the network.
Read the caseStreetwear's leading media brand shuttered its e-commerce arm in September 2025, laying off 50 and returning to publishing and agency roots.
Read the caseTwo days after AKB48 terminated Hanada Aoi's contract, the first such termination in group history, Bunka Hoso dropped her from its radio show and renamed it.
Read the caseHong Kong's AMTD Group bought L'Officiel in 2022, then allegedly stripped its assets — multiple editions closed, police probe, missing photo archive.
Read the caseWith faces masked, mass makeup demand collapsed in Japan, so L'Oréal Paris closed its 52-year-old makeup business and the essie nail brand there within 2021.
Read the caseUs Weekly cut close to half its 50-person workforce in April 2026, including entire social media and Spanish-language teams, and closed its NYC office.
Read the caseA beauty retail unicorn backed by Tencent and Hillhouse opened flagship stores and lost the model. By mid-2026 only 2 of 19 stores remained.
Read the caseA promotion that should have cost CJSCOPE at most NT$170,000 turned into a lawsuit against 328 customers — and a market exit.
Read the caseSwatch Group Japan closed the only Jaquet Droz boutique and ended the brand's Japan operations despite strong watch demand.
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