J.Crew facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1947 (as Popular Merchandise, Inc.) 1983 (as J.Crew) |
| Founders | Mitchell Cinader Saul Charles |
| Headquarters | 225 Liberty Street, New York City, New York, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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506 (2018) |
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Key people
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Libby Wadle (CEO) |
| Products | Clothing, shoes, and accessories |
| Revenue |  US$2.54 billion (2019) |
| US$−78.8 million (2019) |
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| Total assets | US$1.599 billion (2019) |
| Total equity |  US$−1.35 billion (2019) |
| Owner | Anchorage Capital Group and Leonard Green & Partners |
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Number of employees
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9,400 (2019) |
| Divisions | J.Crew crewcuts The Liquor Store (defunct) The Ludlow Shop J.Crew Factory J.Crew Mercantile Madewell |
J.Crew Group, Inc. is an American company that sells clothing and accessories. It is a retailer that offers many different brands and ways to shop. You can find clothes and accessories for women, men, and children. This includes items like swimwear, jackets, loungewear, bags, sweaters, and shoes.
As of August 2016, J.Crew had over 450 stores across the United States. The company sells its products through regular stores, factory stores, and special stores like Madewell. You can also buy their items through catalogs and online.
On May 4, 2020, the company announced it would seek protection from its debts. This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contents
The Story of J.Crew
How J.Crew Started and Grew with Catalogs
In 1947, Mitchell Cinader and Saul Charles started a company called Popular Merchandise, Inc. They sold women's clothing at low prices. These clothes were often sold through demonstrations in people's homes.
In the mid-1980s, sales from their catalogs grew very quickly. Mitchell Cinader once said that growth was "explosive." Annual sales went from $3 million to over $100 million in just five years. In 1985, they launched a new brand called "Clifford & Wills." This brand sold women's clothing that was even more affordable.
The 1980s were a big time for catalog companies like Lands' End and L. L. Bean. Popular Merchandise started its own catalog, focusing on casual clothes for upper-middle-class customers. They wanted to offer a stylish look at a lower price. The first Popular Club Plan catalog was sent out in January 1983. It continued under that name until 1989. These catalogs often showed clothes in many pictures. They also had close-up shots of the fabrics. This helped customers see how the clothes looked and feel sure about the quality.
New Name and First Stores
In 1983, Popular Merchandise, Inc. changed its name to J.Crew, Inc. In 1989, J.Crew opened its very first retail store. This store was located in South Street Seaport in downtown Manhattan.
The Cinader family owned J.Crew Group for most of its early years. But in October 1997, an investment firm called Texas Pacific Group Inc. bought most of the company. By the year 2000, Texas Pacific owned about 62 percent of J.Crew. The Clifford & Wills brand was sold to Spiegel in 2000. In 2004, J.Crew bought the rights to the Madewell brand. Madewell was an old workwear company from 1937. J.Crew started using the Madewell name again in 2006. They made it a "modern-day interpretation" aimed at younger women.
Becoming Public and Then Private Again
In 2006, J.Crew offered its shares to the public for the first time. This is called an IPO. They raised $376 million by selling new shares. However, in 2011, two investment firms, TPG Capital LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP, bought J.Crew. They took the company private again in a $3 billion deal.
On November 23, 2010, the company had agreed to be bought out. This deal was led by the company's management with support from TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. These are two large private equity firms. The announcement came as J.Crew reported that its third-quarter earnings had dropped. Under the deal, J.Crew shareholders would receive $43.50 per share in cash. This was 16 percent more than the stock's price the day before. The CEO, Mickey Drexler, stayed in his role. He was known for helping J.Crew improve since he joined in 2003.
Recent Times for J.Crew
In June 2015, The New York Times reported that J.Crew's women's clothing sales were slowing down. This was partly because the company did not react to new trends like "fast fashion" (cheap, quickly made clothes) and "athleisure" (athletic and casual wear). In 2016, J.Crew teamed up with Nordstrom to sell its products in their stores and online.
In April 2017, the company reduced its staff by 250 jobs. Most of these were at its main office. There were also many changes in leadership. The long-time creative director, Jenna Lyons, left the company in April. The head of menswear, Frank Muytjens, also left that month. In June 2017, the company's CEO, Mickey Drexler, announced he would step down after 14 years. Drexler said he would remain as chairman and still own 10% of the company.
In the summer of 2017, the company avoided filing for bankruptcy. They made a deal with their bondholders to reduce their debt. Most bondholders agreed to this plan.
In September 2018, J.Crew started selling its "J.Crew Mercantile" brand on Amazon.
On February 16, 2018, J.Crew hired Adam Brotman, a former Starbucks executive. He became president and chief experience officer. Brotman's first big change was launching "J.Crew Rewards." This was the company's first rewards program that didn't require a credit card. It offered free shipping and $5 back for every $200 spent.
In November 2018, J.Crew announced that its CEO, James Brett, would step down. He would be replaced by a group of four senior executives. Brett had been CEO since June 2017. The company said his departure was a "mutual agreement." The new leadership team included Michael Nicholson, Adam Brotman, Lynda Markoe, and Libby Wadle. They would manage J.Crew's operations while the board looked for a permanent leader. On November 29, J.Crew also announced they would stop selling their Nevereven, Mercantile, and J.Crew Home sub-brands.
On April 11, 2019, J.Crew announced that Michael Nicholson would become the interim CEO. Adam Brotman also left the company.
J.Crew reported a profit of $1.5 million in the last three months of 2019. This was a big improvement from a loss of $74.4 million in the same period of 2018.
On January 28, 2020, the company announced that Jan Singer would become the new CEO. She had been CEO of Victoria's Secret and Spanx. She also worked as an executive at Nike. She was to replace Nicholson.
On May 4, 2020, J.Crew filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This was partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company already had a lot of debt before the pandemic.
In September 2020, J.Crew permanently closed all six of its UK stores. This happened after the company came out of bankruptcy. In November 2020, Libby Wadle became the new chief executive officer. She replaced Jan Singer, who had been CEO for less than a year.
J.Crew Retail Stores
The company once had 506 retail stores. This included 203 J.Crew stores, 129 Madewell stores, and 174 J.Crew Factory outlet locations in 2018. The company also has stores in Canada, France, the UK, and Hong Kong. Additionally, there are 76 J.Crew locations in Japan. These are run by ITOCHU Corporation under a special agreement.
In March 1989, the first J.Crew store opened in the South Street Seaport in Manhattan. The company planned to open 45 more stores. Five months after its first store opened, J.Crew added two new catalog lines. These were "Classics" and "Collections." "Collections" featured more detailed designs and finer fabrics. "Classics" had clothes that could be worn for both work and fun. In the fall of 1989, J.Crew opened three new stores. These were in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; and Costa Mesa, California. All these places had strong catalog sales. By the end of 1989, retail sales were almost $10 million.
J.Crew's sales reached $400 million in 1990. However, its four existing stores were not yet making enough profit to cover their costs. The next stores opened in Philadelphia, Cambridge, and Portland. The company decided to open fewer stores than planned, aiming for 30 to 35 instead of 45. In early 1991, J.Crew hired a new marketing director. They also started trying to sell more in Canada. In April 1991, J.Crew sent 75,000 J.Crew catalogs and 60,000 Clifford & Wills catalogs to potential customers in Ontario. Orders from Canada were slightly lower than in the United States, but each order was usually larger. In 1992, J.Crew focused more on international markets. They hired a new vice-president for international development. The company already sent many catalogs to customers in Japan and Europe. Most of these customers had learned about J.Crew while traveling or living in the United States.
In 2011, J.Crew opened its first international store in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Canada. In 2012, J.Crew announced four more Canadian locations. These were in Edmonton (at West Edmonton Mall), Vancouver (on Robson Street), and Toronto (at Fairview Mall and the Toronto Eaton Centre). All these stores would sell women's and men's collections. J.Crew also announced two new factory stores in Canada. One was in Vaughan Mills and the other in Edmonton. In 2013, J.Crew opened a store at Markville Shopping Centre in the Greater Toronto Area. In early 2014, J.Crew opened a new main store in Yorkville, Toronto.
In an interview in 2011, J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler said J.Crew would expand to the U.K. Their main store there would be on London's Regent Street. He said that after expanding to Canada, they would open a physical store in England. This would likely be followed by online shopping in places like France and Germany. They chose Regent Street for the London store.
In early 2014, J.Crew announced plans to open brick-and-mortar stores in Asia. They planned two stores in Hong Kong. A women's store opened in the International Finance Centre. A men's shop opened on On Lan Street. Both opened in May 2014.
From 2016 to 2018, J.Crew Group closed 96 J.Crew and J.Crew Factory stores.
On March 2, 2020, J.Crew announced it would pause plans to make Madewell a separate public company. The company is thinking about separating J.Crew and Madewell into two different businesses.
How J.Crew Advertises
Historically, J.Crew sent out 24 different catalogs each year. They distributed over 80 million copies. Starting in 2017, the catalog began to have fewer pages and be released less often.
J.Crew has received some criticism for labeling its very small jeans as "size 000." They also advertised them as "toothpick jeans." Some people said this labeling encouraged vanity sizing, which is when clothing sizes are made smaller to make customers feel better. The "size 000" is even smaller than a "size zero." This made people wonder if even smaller sizes would appear in the future.
In early 2011, J.Crew faced some discussion about an advertisement. It showed their creative director, Jenna Lyons, painting her son's toenails pink. Under the picture, a quote read, "Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink." Some people felt that J.Crew was challenging traditional ideas about gender. However, author Jo B. Paoletti said it was "no big deal."
