The teen-apparel chain will shut about 200 of its nearly 550 stores and withdraw from Europe and Asia. At the same time, pledges from vendors to keep up merchandise supplies, plus agreements with landlords over spaces to exit or to keep, bode well for the chain's survival, according to James Van Horn, a partner at law firm Barnes & Thornburg, as reported on CNN. "That is not typically the norm for retail Chapter 11 bankruptcies," said Van Horn, who specializes in the restructuring of retailers. "For those reasons, I do believe that there is a very good chance that Forever 21 will emerge from bankruptcy."

The company has come to terms with roughly 130 vendors to keep up supplies.

“That's a critical component of their ability to remain viable and to exit bankruptcy," said Philip Emma, a senior analyst at Debtwire, speaking to CNN. "This is the time of year where people are building inventories ahead of the holiday season, so to have this deal in place with vendors is critical to allow them breathing room to get through the fourth quarter."

Landlords with poorly performing Forever 21 stores in their properties will be only too happy to lease those spaces to more-viable tenants, observers say. Meanwhile, there is always the possibility that some landlords will take a stake in the retailer, says Van Horn. "That could very well be a critical piece of the final resolutions with their landlords going forward," he told CNN. "A sharing arrangement could be a very significant win-win outcome for both landlords and the company."

Closing unprofitable stores and pursuing other measures generally taken under Chapter 11 will benefit the retailer in the longer term, sources say.

"They will have a much lower cost structure overall, which will clearly help the bottom line," said Van Horn. "Nobody can predict what's going to happen, but they should be on firm footing for at least two or three years."