Dec. 6--Granted, it's been quite some time since I celebrated my 21st birthday.

But I don't seem to recall even in my most carefree days ever wearing a sequined mini-dress and pairing it with gray ankle boots and fuchsia tights.

The times must have changed, because that's precisely what a model is wearing on the Forever 21 Web site.

Why, you may ask, was I looking at a site intended mostly for teens and 20-somethings?

Because Cross Creek Mall is getting a Forever 21. I saw the construction plans submitted to the city, and mall spokeswoman Tammy Hopkins confirmed that a lease is signed for the retailer. She said construction on Forever 21 is supposed to start next year, and a summer opening is likely.

The chain started in Los Angeles in the '80s and has a reputation for offering trendy fashion for a fair price. For example, if you want to buy the aforementioned dress, tights and ankle boots, your total damage would be about $75.

Don't mistake moderate price point, however, for a lack of high-profile presence. As reported in publications such as Women's Wear Daily, Forever 21 is planning for a 2010 opening of a 90,000-square-foot store in New York's Times Square.

Some of the stores run by Forever 21 Inc. are called XXI Forever, which typically are larger with a broader selection of accessories. The stores at Independence Mall in Wilmington and six other North Carolina locations are called Forever 21. A store in Pineville and one that opened last December at Raleigh's Crabtree Valley Mall are XXI.

Forever 21 officials didn't return calls this week, so I can't say for sure which kind we're getting. My money is on the Arabic numeral variety.

Home for home decor

So where, exactly, is Forever 21 going? The building plans show it will use the space now occupied by a Christmas store. But they also show it taking the space currently occupied by Kirkland's.

This doesn't surprise me. Kirkland's, a Tennessee-based home decor retailer, recently has been moving many of its stores out of malls and into places where shoppers can drive up and walk in.

Melissa Rogers, a district manager, said Thursday that Kirkland's is in fact moving out of Cross Creek Mall and that the chain plans to reopen elsewhere in Fayetteville. She declined to say when or where.

Goodbye, Gap

On a related note, remember those building plans that were submitted to the city a while back that showed drawings of a Hollister at Cross Creek Mall?

Well, Hollister officials still aren't returning phone calls. And Hopkins said the mall still doesn't have a signed lease with the apparel retailer.

But I now can tell you which other store I thought would be leaving the mall, based on those Hollister blueprints. It's the Gap.