A big "thanks!" to Channing, who shared the following news from ButterBoom (click here to read in its entirety):J. Crew to Open Store in Hong KongThat is exciting news! I am happy for all our Hong Kong JCAs who will be able to shop at a J.Crew store.
The US retailer continues to launch large-scale assault on HK.
Butterboom Buzz
November 25, 2011
Popular US brand J.Crew is rumored to be heading to Hong Kong in summer 2012 according to our sources. They will be targeting Central for their first store, and will look to expand almost immediately to tackle the huge mid-tier fashion market that’s growing here like wildfire.
J.Crew is a huge brand that all of our American readers will know well. In fact, it doesn’t end there as they have around 250 retail stores and 76 locations in Japan alone! You can see their current collections at Jcrew.com and expect a formal announcement in December. As always, watch this space for the latest!
I am also happy to see J.Crew's recent moves to expand into other countries. (J.Crew has always been very cautious about setting up stores and selling online in international markets. Now they are selling online to Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, & United Kingdom, in addition to the United States.)
Are you excited about J.Crew's move to Hong Kong? Do you think J.Crew is moving too slow or too fast in the international retail market?
With so many expats, third culture kids and students returning from their studying abroad (out of all my parents' friends kids who grew up in Hong Kong, all but one went away. Several went to boarding school for high school as well), definitely a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't know they had so much of a presence in Japan. Further Far East expansion should be good for them. I have a few friends who are living in HK now who will be very happy to know this.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I also read that they were looking for a site in London.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder quality control has gone in the piss bucket.
ReplyDeletePathos
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing! If J. Crew is getting dollars from markets where their merchandise is new and fresh and people are willing to pay top dollar they can afford to be less "obsessed" with quality.
You know what's funny? HK/China is the biggest black market for knock off's and extra clothing runs (i.e, factory extras). They produce jewelry for J.Crew. It will be interesting to see an increase of J.Crew items on ebay. I won't mind waiting an extra week to get my clothing from there if it means I'm paying a lot less for disposable clothing!
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be a bit behind to be opening a store in HK, but I think their success will depend on price and quality. And judging on how several people have noted the decline in quality over here, I'd say they'll need to be careful.
ReplyDelete76 locations in Japan? Really? I lived there for the past 3 years and was pretty sure they didn't exist there. I thought they only shipped internationally to Japan.
I know Gap and BR are there and have been doing quite well.