J.Crew's Mickey Drexler Is Stepping Down

"Thanks!" to many of you, who shared the following news: Mickey Drexler is no longer at J.Crew. From the New York Times (click here):

Mickey Drexler Steps Down as Chief of J. Crew, Ending an Era
By Vanessa Friedman and Julie Creswell
June 5, 2017

“As chairman and an owner of the company, it is my responsibility to focus on the future of J. Crew and find the right leadership to execute on our strategic plans,” Mr. Drexler, 72, said in a statement. “Jim has a proven track record of pushing for innovation.”

Same-store sales at J. Crew have fallen in 11 of the last 12 quarters, and the company shut its bridal business last year. In March, J. Crew, which is backed by the private equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, said revenue fell 2 percent, to $695 million, during the three-month period that ended Jan. 28. In April, it announced plans to eliminate 150 full-time positions.

The retailing industry is now full of prominent brands that have struggled to adjust to consumers’ changing shopping patterns.

Several retailers have filed for bankruptcy this year, including Payless ShoeSource, The Limited, BCBG Max Azria and Wet Seal. Analysts are predicting many more will follow, and J. Crew, with its faltering sales and mountain of debt, has been dogged by speculation that it could file for bankruptcy.

Mr. Drexler was credited with creating the 1990s office uniform of a button-down shirt and khaki pants during his 18-year career at Gap. He saw that brand’s sales grow to $14 billion from $400 million and created Gap’s discount cousin, Old Navy. But he was fired in 2002 after 24 consecutive months of declines in same-store sales.

He joined J. Crew in 2003 and quickly lived up to his nickname, the Merchant Prince, as crisp tailored shirts and bright, springy ballet flats flew out the door. He was known for riding his bicycle around the office and using an intercom to communicate when struck by an idea. Robust sales set up J. Crew for a successful public offering in 2006 and a huge 700 percent return for the private-equity owners TPG.

In 2011, J. Crew was taken private again in a $3 billion deal, this time by TPG and private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners. Mr. Drexler received $300 million in cash for the buyout but rolled $100 million back into the company for a significant equity stake.

Yet in recent years, J. Crew could not seem to get fashion right. The company was late to the athleisure party. Sometimes, the clothes were unflattering and boxy. Other times, they were oddly luxe — a $1,500 cashmere hoodie — for a customer base more attuned to paying $65 for a sweater.

The result was a very public fall from grace for the brand that was once a favorite of Michelle Obama, and that for almost a decade was a retail fairy tale, with Mr. Drexler as the hero and Ms. Lyons as the heroine.

“Mickey is one of those people I always looked to as a forward thinker,” said Steven Kolb, chief executive of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a trade group. “So in a way it’s not surprising, given the changes in the business, that he recognized it was time for a change.”

The search for his successor had been underway for some time, said Ms. Fooshee, the J. Crew spokeswoman. The choice of Mr. Brett, who previously worked for brands like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and J. C. Penney, suggests that J. Crew may have decided to move further away from the flirtation with fashion instigated by Mr. Drexler and Ms. Lyons — like showing during New York Fashion Week — to retrench and concentrate on its more accessible styles and on online sales.

Since Mr. Brett, 48, was named president of West Elm, a modern furniture retailer that is part of Williams-Sonoma, it has reported strong growth. He established West Elm as a must-have favorite for millennials and was overseeing the brand’s push into boutique hotels in a handful of markets next year.

“Jim has a reputation as a terrific merchant,” said Joshua Schulman, the chief executive of Coach.

Aside from J. Crew, Mr. Brett will also be responsible for J. Crew’s hipper sibling brand, Madewell, which was created by Mr. Drexler and is the bright spot in the group’s portfolio.

So many thoughts... First and foremost, it is a bad economic time to be a brick and mortar retailer. Malls are facing a lot of empty store fronts. Online consumerism is winning based on best prices. J.Crew faced that issue like all other B&M retailers.

However, J.Crew was the retail darling! So how could have it gone all so wrong in the past couple of years? JCAs know the answer to this. They moved away from "classics with a twist". Top it off with high prices and lower quality (cashmere you are afraid to hand-wash, tees that develop holes after a single wear).

Plus, Jenna Lyons and Mickey Drexler were very eager to cater to Fashion Week and the like. Yet, they forgot their core customer. They took them for granted or even worse, purposefully felt like they were not good enough and left them behind. By the time they realized the mistake, it was a little too late to save the financials.

(Take for example this blog. When it first appeared back in 2008, J.Crew ignored it. Often refusing to acknowledge it. They would not even send me public releases, despite many polite requests to be added. Then when they *would* contact me, it was to tell me to remove *public* information, which didn't sit well with me. By the time they truly embraced bloggers, I already felt shunned by the company. It was my love for their clothes and this community that made me blog. But the company did very little to foster that for me. Incidentally, I never asked J.Crew for trips, clothes, discounts, or anything free. In fact, because of my anonymity, I did not think of doing that. Notice this blog still has no ads! I just wanted to be kept in the loop to share with the community.)  

Look, I am sad to see J.Crew in trouble. I have to admit that as of late they have been getting their act together. They are offering more of what I want to see. They are still my go-to for clothes, alongside Madewell. So I want to see them succeed. I sincerely hope Mr. Brett can turn things around.

As for Mickey Drexler... he was always a nice guy. He also made a lot of money from J.Crew so at the end of the day, he will be just fine. ;)

Thoughts on the article? Disagree or agree with Mr. Drexler's move to leave J.Crew?

Breaking News: Jenna Lyons is Leaving J.Crew

"Thanks!" to many of you, including Roamestudios, who shared the following article from the Business of Fashion (click here).

Jenna Lyons Exits J.Crew
By Lauren Sherman
April 3, 2017

BoF has learned that the specialty retailer's longtime creative mastermind is departing the company. Current J.Crew women's head Somsack Sikhounmuong will take over her design duties.

J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons is exiting the company after 26 years with the specialty retailer, BoF has learned.

"Jenna and I got together and we both agreed it was time for a change,” J.Crew chief executive Millard "Mickey" Drexler told BoF in an exclusive interview. "That being said, she’s got plans to do other things. It’s been a great run. There’s a lot of mutual respect between Jenna and me.”

“It has been beyond my wildest dreams to work with such an amazing team of people at such an incredible brand and alongside Mickey — one of retail’s most talented visionaries,” Lyons said in a statement. "I am excited about the next chapter for J.Crew as well as the opportunity for other creative leaders within the organisation to step up and take on new responsibilities. Having spent the better part of my life with J.Crew, I feel an immense pride and love for everyone at the company.”

Current J.Crew women’s head of design Somsack Sikhounmuong — who previously led sister label Madewell’s design and has been with the company since 2001 — will be promoted to chief design officer, overseeing the women’s, men’s and children's design teams effective immediately. All other creative departments that were reporting to Lyons — who was also president of the company — will now report to Drexler.

"Somsack and our design teams have a deep understanding of the aesthetic and style our customers rely on us to deliver, with a proven track record of driving creative vision in-line with our brand DNA,” Drexler said. "We are excited to extend Somsack’s vision across all design categories and look forward to the team’s contributions. As always, delivering the very best product, value and brand experience across channels is our top priority.”

Lyons joined J.Crew in 1990, although her role was elevated after Drexler came on board in 2003. Through their unique partnership, they managed to transform J.Crew into a cultural phenomenon, transforming the way a generation of American men and women dress with Lyons' energised, tongue-in-cheek take on classic preppy tropes. Her candy-coloured designs — from the now-classic "Bubble" necklace to the "No. 2" pencil skirt — impressed themselves on current fashion in a way rarely seen at the mass level. In 2010, Drexler promoted her to president, reflecting her influence in design and at the company.

At the same time, Lyons became something of a cultural icon in her own right, whose personal style — statement eyewear, oversize suiting, sequins for day — became copied the world over. Just this past Friday, Lyons was captured on J.Crew’s Instagram handle celebrating the retailer’s self-made holiday, National Stripes Day.

However, some say that Lyons' role had transitioned out of day-to-day design duties and more into a face for the brand. But like many specialty retailers, J.Crew has been squeezed by discount culture, the casualisation of dress and the consumer's penchant for fast fashion, which relies less on one well-defined aesthetic and more on moving trends quickly to the market. In its 2016 fiscal year, net sales at J.Crew were $2 billion, down 6 percent from the year previous. Sales at stores open at least one year were down 8 percent. Turnaround efforts — including a marked return to the preppy “basics” that performed so well in the past and diversification into athleisure with a multi-season collaboration with New Balance — have yet to move the needle.

The company’s top line has been somewhat boosted by the growth of Madewell, which saw net sales in 2016 increase 14 percent to $341.6 million, with comparable sales up 5 percent. But its debt — which totalled $1.5 billion, net of discount and deferred financing costs, at the end of last year — has proven an albatross, as it becomes current in 2018. J.Crew also has a $350 million revolving loan. The retailer has reportedly considered debt restructuring.

Lyons' post-J.Crew plans are not yet known, but the indelible mark she has made in defining American fashion for the past decade cannot go unacknowledged. As for J.Crew, this announcement is expected to be the first in a series of strategic changes that will allow it to perform in its next iteration.

Wow. I always thought she was being groomed to take over for Mickey Drexler when he decided to leave. So its interesting that is not happening. More interesting is whether or not it was her decision to leave...

Honestly, Jenna Lyons taste had evolved away from J.Crew's core style for many years now. While she was taking fashion forward risks, J.Crew's core customers were not. "Basics with a twist" is J.Crew's true mantra and not Jenna Lyons.

I am, of course, interested to see with Jenna's next move is. Whether she will be scooped up by another retailer or start her own line. Time will tell! ;)

Thoughts on the article? Disagree or agree with Ms. Lyon's leaving J.Crew?

J.Crew's Mickey Drexler: On Customers and Caffè Americano

"Thanks!" to  many of you, who shared the following email & news from J.Crew.

J.Crew's CEO extraordinaire Mickey Drexler sent an email to customers this weekend reminding customers that they are getting back to the "old J.Crew" in terms of quality meets style.

J.Crew had lost its pep in its step for awhile. With multiple store closings and some losses on their books, they have been trying to go back to "what works" best for them. They have been employing this new/old strategy for awhile now. But are customers buying it? Mickey likes to think so! ;)

What are your thoughts on Mickey's personal note to customers? Do you think J.Crew is back? Do you think they never left their "classics with a twist" ways? Please share!

Do You Still Heart J.Crew?

"Thanks!" to JulieStyles (in this post) who shared the following article from the Washington Post (click here to read in its entirety):

Sorry, J.Crew. Female shoppers just aren’t that into you.
By Sarah Halzack
March 23, 2015

It wasn’t long ago that J.Crew was the envy of the retail industry. Its distinctive look — well-made basics bedecked with a splash of sequins or a door-knocker-sized necklace — stood out from less adventurous retailers in the same price range and helped the brand triple its revenue between 2003 and 2013.

And yet 2014 marked a turn in fortunes for the retailer. The company recently reported that sales at its stores open more than a year fell 2 percent in 2014. In the crucial holiday quarter, the brand’s financial picture was especially cloudy, with revenue decreasing slightly to $620.7 million and comparable sales sliding 5 percent.

In a rare appearance on a conference call with analysts, chief executive Mickey Drexler offered several reasons for what he called “a tough year” for his company, including a decline in mall traffic, intense competition and shoppers’ fixation on promotional prices.

And yet the biggest problem of all, Drexler said, was one of J.Crew’s own making: It filled its stores with clothes that women really just weren’t into. “We’ve made some mistakes,” Drexler said, including “missteps in our iconic classics.”

Drexler said the women’s business has been “challenging” recently and that the fits, silhouettes and color palette of the clothes simply haven’t connected with shoppers the way they had in the past.

J.Crew says it is aggressively trying to win customers back with fresh colors, classic designs and a more diverse merchandise assortment, particularly in the pants category. (As Drexler said, if you weren’t buying their skinny-cut Pixie or Minnie pants last year, you probably weren’t buying women’s pants from them at all.)

J.Crew is learning the hard way that in an era when e-commerce has presented women with ever-greater shopping choices, customer loyalty is hard to win and incredibly easy to lose. And with its middle-of-the-road price point, the typical J.Crew shopper might be just as likely to invest in a $595 shift dress at Tory Burch as she is to impulse-buy a $8.90 crop top at Forever 21.

With that kind of breadth of competition, J.Crew is betting that the way to get ahead of the pack is not with new marketing tactics or store designs, but to simply make better, more appealing clothes.

J.Crew is not the only specialty retailer that is grappling with a style problem. Gap has lately had similar struggle, with sales stumbling hard as critics say its sportswear has veered from classic and simple to just plain boring. ...

Gap’s sister brand, Banana Republic, appears to be coming out of a style rut under its new creative director, Marissa Webb, who impressed critics and analysts with fall and winter collections featuring trendy and edgy details....

The recent weakness at J.Crew comes after a long stretch in which the brand was flying high. Many attribute its recent success to its top leaders, including Drexler, the chief executive...

And then there is Jenna Lyons, the creative director who has earned the kind of cultlike adoration that is typically reserved for haute couture designers. She’s responsible for the unique, preppy-with-a-twist aesthetic of the clothes, and she is a walking billboard for how to wear them. Photos of her regularly ping-pong around fashion blogs and Instagram feeds, often featuring her in thick-rimmed, geek-chic glasses and some sort of formal-meets-casual ensemble — maybe a structured blazer atop ripped jeans or sequined harem pants paired with a striped T-shirt.

The growth and buzz that Drexler and Lyons created led to whispers about an initial public offering for the privately-held company. But amid last year’s slowdown, that talk has died down.

Reviving the women’s business isn’t J.Crew’s only hope for improvement. The company also includes Madewell, a newer, casual-cool chain which had a much stronger year than J.Crew.

Madewell — a destination for distressed denim, suede ankle booties, and vintage-looking button-downs — had a 14 percent sales increase in 2014 at stores open more than year, growth that is vastly better than what was seen at most specialty apparel retailers. It appears that Drexler sees Madewell as something of a pet project and that he is intensely focused on making it the next big thing in American casual apparel.

The company is also rapidly growing its lower-priced Factory outlet business, with plans to add 21 more of these stores in 2015. And it is cautiously expanding the presence of the J. Crew brand overseas, with a Paris store in the chic Marais district and plans to grow its footprint in Britain and Hong Kong.

But even if these other strategies help make up for slowness in J. Crew’s women’s business, the company remains determined to win back its core female shopper. “She is loyal as hell until we go wrong,” Drexler said. 

So many interesting points being made throughout this article (of which I highlighted). The most important is that *finally* J.Crew recognizes that it's important to make their customers happy.
If I sound pretty harsh, it is because for awhile it felt like J.Crew was catering to the fashion editors and fashionistas from Fashion Week more than the base of loyal aficionadas.

It is fine to mix in high-end, fashion forward pieces for the Collection line, which is what it is meant for. However, J.Crew started to make some questionable moves with their regular collection like when they retired the classic Cece Ballet Flat (which they had to bring back!) from their offerings. No matter how many back-to-back sales and promotions, items were not selling. You had to start wondering who was making the bad calls at J.Crew. More importantly, why were they not being fired.

It is clear from Mickey's comments that he recognizes they have gone too far. The question is can they fix it? I think they can. Get the right mix of product that customers, their base of customers, really want, and you will see sales rise. Just look at the Chateau Coat- that was one item they got right during the Holiday season. It never went on sale and it keeps selling out! But as for the rest of the Holiday offerings? Meh. The color palette was drab. The styles were over-sized. Bring back the rich hues! Bring back the tailored tops!

Lastly, I find it interesting that Madewell performed so well. I am a Madewell Aficionada as well and I can see that the quality and fit are in those pieces. I hope Mickey pays a bit more attention to J.Crew to make sure J.Crew sees a rise and in their quality and fit.

What are your thoughts on this article? Any points you found interesting? Anything you agreed or disagreed with?

J.Crew's Jenna Lyons Hearts Sequins

The following article and photos are from the Guardian (click here to read in its entirety): 

J.Crew's Jenna Lyons: 'Sequins are the new black'
Label’s creative director fights against ‘fashion gone quiet’ with sparkles, bright yellows and deep purples as she shows collection at New York fashion weekBy Jess Cartner-Morley
February 17, 2015

Backstage at the Lincoln Center, moments before the J Crew show at New York fashion week, the models asked Jenna Lyons, the label’s creative director: “Are we allowed to smile?”

Lyons – dressed for the occasion in floor-length black culottes with a simple striped cotton shirt, signature black-rimmed spectacles and slicked back hair – burst out laughing. “Oh my god, yes! Please smile.”

The models’ question was not stupid. Smiling is a rare occurrence on the catwalk, where aloof unobtainability is still considered the ideal. But J Crew is different from most names on the New York fashion week schedule, being an upscale mainstream store whose price tags, while not cheap, are closer to affordable than astronomical. What’s more, the tone of approachability saturates everything about J Crew. The store models often wear glasses, and unlikely colours and fabrics are mixed with a screwball comedy wit.

Under the stewardship of Lyons and the chief executive, Mickey Drexler, J Crew has become a major player in global fashion. Michelle Obama is a fan, and ...has enabled J Crew to lay claim, in the American imagination, to the notion of dressing with a pop of colour. ...

But recently J Crew has run into trouble. A loss of $607m in 2014 led to reports that Lyons was in trouble with Drexler for the unlikely fashion crime of being too fabulous. Lyons’ personal fame – guest appearances in Girls and a turn at Solange Knowles’s wedding – was said to be shading her J Crew role. Drexler dismissed the reports as silly, publicly backing Lyons as being “as good as it gets at being a voice for J Crew”. But the recent departure of both the chief operating officer and chief financial officer have fuelled rumours that all is not well at JCrew.

The New York fashion week presentation, therefore, comes at a crunch moment for the label. Lyons came out, all guns blazing – or, given the J Crew obsession with sequins, sparkling. “I think we were missing the sparkle a little,” said Lyons, pointing out a multicoloured sequin minidress, worn over a button down skirt and under a double-breasted tweed coat. “We’d gotten a little bit quiet. It’s not just us – fashion generally has gone a bit quiet, I think. So this season I was like: ‘Damn, give me sequins!’”

As Lyons posed for photos with starstruck fashion groupies, the head of women’s design, Tom Mora, expanded on how the team found inspiration in Peter Schlesinger’s photographic portraits of a flamboyant 1970s London set which included David Hockney, Tina Chow, Paloma Picasso and Cecil Beaton. “What I loved was how much elegance and energy and freedom there was in the way they dressed, not just for evening but day-to-day.” The 70s silhouettes – which are already making a strong showing among New York fashion week goers wearing flared trousers, long A-line skirts and polo necks – were abundant in the new collection.

J Crew has recently opened stores in London, and the British influence was evident in the menswear, where designer Frank Muytjens had hit upon his colours of the season at a specialist fair selling vintage army and navy clothing in Folkestone, Kent. While the womenswear was a magpie’s feast of sunshine yellow, rose pink and rich purple, menswear blended in muted tones of olive, grey, camel and tobacco.

Muytjens, wearing a tobacco silk scarf with ivory polka dots tucked neatly beneath the lapel of his knitted navy blazer, shrugged. “That’s the difference between a guy and a girl. Our man doesn’t want to be visible from 10 blocks away because of the colour of his shirt.”

The J Crew woman, by contrast, is a peacock, albeit a practically dressed one. Editors and stylists arrived, shivering and shaking snow from their hair, to stand sighing in front of a tan parka fully lined with yolk-yellow fake fur, and sumptuous roll-neck sweaters layered under gold-buttoned blazers. Sequins sparkled under parkas, and sprouted in tufts from cosy sweaters. “Sequins are the new black,” proclaimed Lyons. She was smiling.

Oh to have Frank Muytjens design a capsule collection for the Women's line...

I will say I love the sequins in the upcoming Fall/Winter collection. They are completely unpractical for my lifestyle, but oh so pretty! I am also thrilled to see a nice combination of neutrals (with the grey tones) mixed in with the colors (rich purples and yellows). Color me impressed!

What are your thoughts on the article? Any point that you agreed or disagreed with? If so, please share! :)

Coming Soon! Madewell at Net-a-Porter & Nordstrom

"Thanks!" to many of you, including twentysomethingsimple (in this post), as well as cousy (in this post), who let us know some super exciting news from Madewell. The following is from Fashionista (click here to read in its entirety):
 Madewell to Sell at Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom and Internationally

Head designer Somsack Sikhounmuong talks about the expansion of J.Crew's sister brand.
By Chantal Fernandez
February 6, 2015

J.Crew's sales growth may be slowing, but that hasn't stopped Madewell from dreaming bigger things. The casual, denim-focused retailer, a division of the J.Crew Group, has outlined its plans for a major expansion on all fronts: starting this month, it will sell some of its goods through third-party retailers -- specifically, Nordstrom and Net-a-Porter -- and plans to open 15 more standalone stores by the end of the year. The brand will also begin shipping internationally through its e-commerce site.

As early as Feb. 24, over 70 Madewell pieces will go on sale at Nordstrom.com, followed by arrivals in 15 Nordstrom stores on March 6. On Feb. 25,  Net-a-Porter will begin selling 50 Madewell products. International shipping will be available on Madewell.com sometime before year's end. The first shipments to both retailers have focused heavily on denim.

"We’re being really careful," said Somsack Sikhounmuong, Madewell's head of design. "We’ve talked about it and thought about it before, and we’ve finally found partners who will help us grow in the right way." The 'we' he refers to undoubtedly includes Madewell founder and CEO of the J. Crew Group, Mickey Drexler. "This, for us, is really a new beginning," said Drexler to WWD. "I wouldn’t call it necessarily a wholesale distribution. I would just call it distribution that makes sense from a customer point of view, from a brand point of view, from a Nordstrom and Net-a-Porter point of view."

This new beginning comes after a period of strong growth. In the last three years, Madewell has opened 54 stores, bringing the current total to 85. Sales were up 32 percent in the first three quarters of 2014 compared to the previous year, in contrast to J.Crew, which saw a 6 percent increase in sales (and a 2 percent decrease in comparable sales) during that same period.

For Sikhounmuong and his team, growing in the right way means not sacrificing the Madewell aesthetic. "We definitely pride ourselves for the in-store experience," he said. "[With Nordstrom] we’ve had proper meetings, we’ve gone through styling to make sure things felt Madewell still. They’ve been more than happy and more than cooperative in making sure our vision was carried through." Sikhounmuong also said that the way Nordstrom presents its Topshop collection positively influenced Madewell's decision to create a similar partnership.

Madewell's arrangement with Net-a-Porter is modeled after the one J.Crew and the site established in 2010. "Net-a-Porter has proven to be an valuable partner to J.Crew, there’s no reason to mess with a formula that works," said Sikhounmuong in a follow-up email.

J.Crew, as any regular shopper knows, is an aggressive discounter -- but Madewell promotions are rarer. When asked if there were concerns about lack of control over discounting at these new retail partners, Sikhounmuong said, "it is the nature of doing that kind of business, wholesaling, so we get it."

As for the company's day to day business, Sikhounmuong insists the new partnerships haven't changed his work. "I think it's an opportunity to meet new customers and service new customers," he says. "Time will tell, maybe in the future there may be projects here and there between the two us, but in terms of in my head, day to day, it hasn’t changed." Madewell fans should be comforted by the designer's focus on consistency and hopefully larger exposure won't necessitate design changes down the road.

"One step at a time," said Sikhounmuong. Well, in this case, more like three steps.

Update: An earlier version of the article stated that Madewell's partnership with Nordstrom and Net-a-Porter marked the first time the brand has been sold by a different retailer. Madewell has been sold through Shopbop since 2009.

This is super exciting news indeed! I think it's great to see Madewell teaming up with Net-a-Porter and Nordstrom. Both businesses focus on high-customer satisfaction and offer superior products. Nice move indeed!

I also think there is something to be said about Madewell versus J.Crew sales during the same quarter. (Referring to the following quote: "Sales were up 32 percent in the first three quarters of 2014 compared to the previous year, in contrast to J.Crew, which saw a 6 percent increase in sales (and a 2 percent decrease in comparable sales) during that same period.") I am one of those shoppers that have seen my purchases at Madewell {significantly} increase in the past few months. Meanwhile, my purchases at J.Crew have not been the same compared to previous years. (Still shopping at J.Crew, just not as much.) Instead, I have been gravitating to Madewell's jeans (hello legging jean, never looking back!), bags (transport tote, I am in love!), accessories (can't stop wearing the blanket scarf!) and shoes (billie boot, amazing!). At least my money is staying within the J.Crew family. ;)

What are your thoughts on this latest Madewell news? Are you surprised to see the brand being sold at other outlets? If so, please share! :)

Does J.Crew Still Heart Forever Jenna Lyons? {probably}

"Thanks!" to many of you, including st (in this post), who let us know about the following article from Page Six (click here to read in its entirety):

J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons told to ‘cut back on self-promotion’
By Emily Smith
December 21, 2014

J.Crew’s fabulous creative director Jenna Lyons is facing internal calls to cut back on her own self-promotion after the brand suffered a massive slowdown in its women’s business.

Sources tell Page Six that — after a dismal earnings report that saw the company go from a net income of $35.4 million to a reported loss of $607.8 million in just a year — style icon Lyons is being ordered by her bosses to focus more on the business and less on her own brand.

One source told us, “J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler is tired of Jenna Lyons being out on the circuit and not paying attention to business.”

While J.Crew’s sales slumped, company president and executive creative director Lyons had a guest role on “Girls” as Lena Dunham’s boss, graced a White House fashion summit, hired a ­4-year-old blogger who appeared with Lyons in publicity stills, attended Solange Knowles’ wedding in a runway-ready outfit, and appeared in spreads for Harper’s Bazaar, O Magazine, the New York Times, Vogue and Yahoo.

On top of that, she most recently schmoozed with the Duchess of Cambridge during the British royal’s visit to New York. And we also noticed that all the models at J.Crew’s recent Fashion Week presentations seemed to bear an uncanny resemblance to the much-admired, bespectacled Lyons.

The more low-key Drexler, who did not comment for this story, recently admitted to WWD that women’s apparel and accessory sales have been hit hard. On Dec. 5, Moody’s downgraded J.Crew for its weak sales figures. “We’ve had a very tough year and I, along with the team, own this,” Drexler told WWD. “We saw a significant slowdown in our women’s business. We own that even more. In that regard, we need to improve.”

He added that — even though we can’t imagine Lyons in jogging bottoms — the company would branch into leisure and athletic wear.

A J.Crew spokeswoman said, “This is completely inaccurate and couldn’t be farther from reality.”

Well, it is not surprising that J.Crew would deny this story. However, doesn't it feel like this story could totally be true??? It does seem like Jenna Lyons is everywhere as of late while the women's side of J.Crew has totally lost its focus.

We have mentioned before all the issues of where J.Crew needs to focus on. Refer to last month's "J.Crew's Women's Collection Is Costing Millions" post for a refresher. Frankly, I have noticed that customers are not as excited about J.Crew as they use to be. Don't get me wrong, there are still items that are selling out like crazy (Chateau Parka anyone?). However, there are way more items just lingering in the sale section (untouched and unwanted).

Do I think Jenna Lyons is at fault? No, not entirely. But she does bare some responsibility. She is at the helm of the ship and so she owns a part of J.Crew's current problems.

Personally, I think it is because her tastes have grown away from J.Crew. What do I mean? For awhile, Jenna was dressing like a fashion forward J.Crew customer. Now she is dressing fashion forward for the fashion forward world. Two different worlds as shown in the image above (both inset pictures are Jenna "before" and the main picture is Jenna "after".).

Listen, I don't dress the exact same way I did 10 years ago. The stores I shop at are different too. I understand that people grow and so do their tastes (including wardrobe). But let's not pretend that Jenna  is still a J.Crew customer. I fear she is not.

What are your thoughts on the article? Do you think it is true or not? Do you think Jenna Lyons should take a step back? Please share! :)

J.Crew's Women's Collection Is Costing Millions

*eh, nice outfit?

"Thanks!" to Shopalot (in this post) who gave us a heads up about J.Crew's most recent earnings report. The following from Racked (click here to read in its entirety) sums up their current situation:

J.Crew's Suffering Women's Business Is Costing It Millions
by Erika Adams
December 5, 2014

After posting a dismal earnings report yesterday, J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler sat down with WWD to explain how the company went from a net income of $35.4 million to a reported loss of $607.8 million in the span of one year.

In particular, women's apparel and accessories sales have been hit hard. Drexler reasons that a widespread downturn in apparel sales across the industry was partially to blame, but he's not above accepting that the company's womenswear is doing terrible right now. "We've had a very tough year and I, along with the team, own this," Drexler says. "We saw a significant slowdown in our women's business. We own that even more. In that regard, we need to improve."

In the future, those improvements may include dipping into apparel categories that Drexler previously said the company wouldn't touch, like athleisure. In regard to that specifically, Drexler says: "We are constantly evaluating percentages and the investments we make by category." In other words, it's no longer off limits.

While J.Crew's women's business is suffering, Madewell posted a 32% revenue gain, J.Crew's men's business hasn't declined, and Drexler is confident in the inventory currently in stores as opposed to six months ago. While Drexler maintains that J.Crew is in a difficult position for now, he says that the women's sector has survived low sales in the past and will continue to do so. "I don't like it," Drexler says. "It's never any fun. When it seems worse, it usually gets better. That being said, we all have a job to do. We are going to fight the fight and do a better job." 

"Thanks!" to several JCAs (in this post), who came up some very insightful feedback on J.Crew's current situation. The ones that really resonated with me included the following:

JSR (in this post) mentions:

My list of what needs to be done at corporate:

1. CHANGE your women's head designer.
2. Bring colors back.
3. No drop shoulders.
4. The oversized coats..too many that are ill fitting.
5. Bring back prints.
6. Stop making poly shirts.
7. Make pretty dresses with interesting cuts and designs. Not the straight sack kind. ...

Blakemdjohns (in this post) mentions:

My thoughts are: (1) there's way too much inventory. Instead of doing 6 similar droopy, oversized sweaters, do *one* really nice fitting sweater and do it well; (2) Quality. People will pay for quality. No more synthetics, no more seams that fall apart. No more buttons that are cheap and crack and/or fall off; (3) Stop trying to do all. the. trends. Leave the trendy stuff to the fast fashion retailers. Zippers, and bedazzled everything is just silly. Going back to number one, if you're going to do trends, so *one* thing and do it right.  I don't know who is approving these designs, but there's so much ill, fitting and poor quality garbage. Bring back well-fitting, high-quality classic items in gorgeous colors and prints. (Also, going back to number one, you don't have to make *everything* in a print). 

Cousy (in this post) mentions:

...But here's the thing I find confusing. J Crew produced some really nice items this season that sold out lightning fast - the paisley shirtdress, the elephant parade shoes, the cocoon coat in the gorgeous blue color, the #2 pencil in heather chartreuse - and there are many more that I don't remember. So why aren't they taking cues from the things that are selling well (color, print, structure etc.)? The offerings of this fall seem almost willful in their defiance of what customers want to buy. Drab, cheap-looking, common. Every time I see the ugly glen plaid dress or the hideous houndstooth dress with the black side panels I want to have a stiff drink and go to bed. I never thought J Crew would stoop so low.

But maybe this is good news - have the horrendous sales numbers made them realize that they have hit bottom? I think Mickey and gang have it in them to recover and my fingers are crossed that they will.

Personally, I am not too surprised that there was a slowdown in women's apparel and accessories. Why? Take a good look at the sale section. The sale page is overflowing with items that are not moving, no matter what the additional percent off might be.

For many of the reasons listed above by fellow JCAs, I have found myself less and less excited with J.Crew's rollout of new arrivals. Yes, there is still a piece or two that catches my eye (hello Chateau Parka!) However, I use to be excited about the whole roll-out. While I am at it, I use to be excited about getting the catalog in the mail. Now, I don't care if I save it or not.

One of main issues I have this season is poor fit. Everything is boxy and over-sized. For example, I am going down two whole sizes for the Chateau Parka. Most of the online reviewers had to do the same. Why, oh why, is it so huge to begin with???

What do I think J.Crew needs to do:

1. Get back to styling. Learn how to style the way you want your actual customers to wear it. Not the way your ultra-cool-Fashionista-industry-types (you know who I am talking about!) wear it. They can get away with "fashion forward" looks. The college graduate, corporate executive, and everything in-between can not get away with it in every day life. Lately, real life bloggers are rocking this better than J.Crew. Also, fire your current stylists. Really.
2. Quality. Enough said, right? Make sure we don't have to dry clean a cotton tee shirt. For real.
3. Fit. The items that stand the test of time are ones that look like they were tailored for the body. There is a reason the Bella is so well remembered. It is tailored and darted in a way to emphasize the benefits of a woman's body. 
4. Colors. This use to be one of their strengths. Get back to offering rich hues. Plus, offer them during the right season. Where are all the reds, greens, and bright colors for the Holiday roll-out? 
5. Prints. The cutesy prints are okay for a piece or two, but customers do not need any more of them. However stick to offering more classic prints and plaids that you know customers want (hello Black Watch plaid!)
6. Pricing. Why not start with reasonable price point of x, instead of offering a higher price point of y with an additional 25-30% off promo. It just doesn't make sense and it turns customers off. (I just rather wait for it on sale, because I know it will go on sale.)

So I hope J.Crew takes to heart the feedback listed above and throughout the blog. I hope they can turn things around, because I do very much love them!

What are your thoughts on J.Crew's recent earnings? Do you find it suprising or not? What would you recommend J.Crew take action on (if anything)?

J.Crew's Mickey Drexler Talks about J.Crew

"Thanks!" to many of you, including J.Crew Guy in Canada, who let us know about a new interview with J.Crew's Mickey Drexler on Bloomberg business.

The video comes from Bloomberg (click here to watch). The following article is a summary from Racked (click here to read in its entirety):

J.Crew Poobah Mickey Drexler Finally Lets Us Into His Brain
By Adele Chapin
October 21, 2014

J.Crew's chairman and CEO Mickey Drexler answered tough questions about the current state of retail from Bloomberg Television anchor Stephanie Ruhle yesterday, and his comments offer insight into the inner workings of Drexler's brain and, perhaps, J.Crew's current strategy.

There is one direction Drexler says J.Crew definitely won't be pursuing, and that's activewear. He told Ruhle: "Well I'll tell you where we thought about being in, was the active professional kind of business, the yoga or the Under Armour kind of business, but we're not getting in because we don't have the expertise to do that. We're getting into businesses that we're going to be more aggressive about, more ambition about, and invest more, but we're pretty satisfied with the breadth of our products. And now it's a matter of the correct expansion, correct design involvement, and quality. And I say quality because that's really important."

So no J.Crew-branded yoga pants for the foreseeable future. Is it because the J.Crew realizes they can't do this better than Under Armour, as Drexler says? Maybe because J.Crew knows its shopper so well, and trendy athleisure wear doesn't fit into that vision. Or Drexler afraid of reaching into new product lines and overextending, after his experience at Gap.

Ruhle also wanted to know what Drexler thinks of fast fashion. For the record, Drexler likes Zara. He says of Zara: "If you want clothes that don't last a long time and you want to be of the moment and you want a designer look, from what I hear—I don't wear their clothes—you might go there. It's not going to be in your wardrobe a year from today. I think they know that. They're really good at what they do. We on the other hand make clothes that we want people to keep and never throw out.

And in an era where nearly every store is offering deals left and right, Drexler admires retailers who never go on sale. "I am so jealous of Louis Vuitton, okay?," he said. "And that's a 100, 200-year-old brand that has had high integrity for a couple of hundred years. You might add Chanel into that as the only perhaps other one out there and a few others."

Since the world is "over-stored" and "over-garmented," Drexler suggests, retailers have to differentiate their products and can't rely on price slashing—even if customers demand it. "I think the retailer has to have pride and integrity in what they do. And there are enough of us left out there, maybe much less who aren't playing the price game. It's what we do. It is hard, but nothing's ever been easy," he said.

Remember when J.Crew did carry a Yoga line? That was a long time ago. But I do tend to agree that is an area they should not focus on.

I also have to agree with Mickey on the following quote: "We're getting into businesses that we're going to be more aggressive about, ... And now it's a matter of the correct expansion, correct design involvement, and quality. And I say quality because that's really important." I think this is how J.Crew continues to be the J.Crew we all know and love. I think this last rollout, {fingers crossed}, is an example of them trying to get back on track.

By the way, you can just tell that Mickey Drexler really dislikes that J.Crew goes on sale. I hope no one tells him how fast some items get marked down! ;)

What are your thoughts on the article? Any points you agree or disagree with? Please share! :)

Madewell's Origin Story

Many of us have been turning to Madewell lately as they are doing a really nice job of offering styles that are truly "classics with a twist".

"Thanks!" to J.Crew Guy In Canada who shared the following article about Madewell's origin story from Buzz Feed (click here to read in its entirety) with us:

Something Borrowed, Something Blue
By Dan Nosowitz
September 28, 2014

In 1937, my great-grandfather started a workwear company in New England called Madewell. In 2006, 17 years after the last factory shut down, J.Crew relaunched a women’s clothing company with the same name and logo, based on a 50-year history in which it had no part.

I stopped dead on Broadway, in the middle of the sidewalk, and stared, not up at the beautiful wrought-iron SoHo buildings, as would befit someone who’d moved to New York in the past month, but at an ordinary sign advertising a small clothing shop. The logo, a casual cursive scrawl with both E’s capitalized, jumped out at me like a beacon from a lighthouse somewhere deep in the back of my brain. That was the logo emblazoned on my baby clothes, the logo my great-grandfather created. It was, I thought, forgotten family history, the factories having shut down shortly after I was born in the ’80s. ...

Over the next four years, I saw Madewell everywhere. Today there are three stores in Manhattan alone, and 77 throughout the country. On bags on the subway, on tags of clothes worn by friends, I am constantly bombarded with totems of my family history.

Asking my family yielded the basics: Madewell as it stands today began in 2004. That’s when Millard “Mickey” Drexler, now the CEO of J.Crew, acquired the logo and the trademark of the company my great-grandfather founded in 1937. Dhani Mau, a senior editor at Fashionista, said, “J.Crew considers it their younger sister brand,” though she said it’s not necessarily for younger sisters. Pressed to pick out a celebrity who might typify the Madewell girl, Mau chose Kate Bosworth and Rachel Bilson. This does not entirely jibe with my mental picture of my tough immigrant great-grandfather selling stiff denim overalls to New England dockworkers.

Still, Madewell will not let you forget the date 1937. The store could originally be found online at madewell1937.com, and the year is prominent on the site and on some of the clothing. The company’s Instagram and Twitter handles are both still @Madewell1937, and its LinkedIn page says, “Madewell was started in 1937 as a workwear company, and we’re always looking to the brand’s roots for inspiration.”

This is, to put it mildly, baloney. Madewell as it stands today has almost nothing at all to do with the company founded by my great-grandfather almost 80 years ago. How many vintage labels out there have similar stories? How many corporations are out there rifling through the defunct brands of America’s past like a bin of used records, looking for something, anything, that will give them that soft Edison-bulb glow of authenticity?

Madewell’s story — my story — leading up to that moment in SoHo began over a century ago, half a world away. It traces the evolution of how Americans shop, and how Americans shop heavily informs how Americans see themselves; we, as a country, are what we buy. Mickey Drexler, in creating J.Crew’s new womenswear stores, shrewdly read the market and realized that stocking nice clothes wouldn’t be enough: He’d have to tell a story along with them. Drexler didn’t have any stories, so he bought ours. ...{much more to read here}

Really interesting to read this family member's take on Madewell's transition from family brand, forgotten logo, to trendy retailer. I can see the passion coming through his words about his family's history, of which he should be proud of.

This post reminded me a lot of a piece on CBS' 60 Minutes about Luxottica, a famous producer of sunglasses. (Watch and read about the 60 Minutes segment here.) It discussed the American brand Ray-Ban and how it was struggling. The Italian company, Luxottica, ended up purchasing the brand and turned it around. Today, Ray-Ban sunglasses are world-renowned top-sellers while playing on its iconic American history, despite being produced and owned elsewhere.

But back to Madewell... Honestly, it is no secret about Madewell's past and how Mickey Drexler came to acquire the brand, logo, etc. Although, I do think Mickey Drexler/ J.Crew Corporate try to emphasize Madwell's rich past as though the Madewell brand under J.Crew has been around that long.

But isn't it better that the Madewell brand lives on and not forgotten altogether? I mean, J.Crew/Mickey Drexler did do a pretty good job of portraying Madewell as a retailer of quality denim and leather. Just a thought...

What are your thoughts on the post? Any points of the article resonate with you? If so, please share!

J.Crew Struggles {Mickey Drexler Definitely Does Not!}

"Thanks!" to Stapelia N. who shared the following article from the Bloomberg (click here to read in its entirety & to watch a video).

CEO Drexler Amasses $350 Million as J.Crew Struggles
By Lindsey Rupp, Carol Hymowitz and David Carey
June 13, 2014

Mickey Drexler has amassed more than $350 million from the leveraged buyout of J.Crew Group Inc. even as he struggles to revive sales and restore the apparel chain’s fashion cachet. Three years after taking the retailer private with private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP, J.Crew’s chief executive officer is battling slowing sales as shoppers decamp to more affordable, trendier rivals. The challenges reduce the likelihood of an initial public offering this year and make J.Crew less appealing to a potential strategic buyer such as Japan’s Fast Retailing Co.

“Mickey has done very well for himself,” said Eric Beder, the managing director of equity research at Brean Capital LLC. “But J.Crew has to reinvent itself given the prevalence of fast fashion and a customer who isn’t paying up that much for basics, which is a large part of the brand.”

Drexler invested $11 million of his own money when he was named CEO in 2003. In the 2011 buyout, his stake was worth about $301 million -- he pocketed $202 million of that and rolled the rest into an 8 percent stake, according to company filings. He also got $55 million in dividends as part of the $681.5 million J. Crew has paid the owners since going private.

In all, Drexler, 69, has accrued about $380 million since becoming CEO, including options awards, salary and bonus, according to company filings and a Bloomberg News analysis. He and his private-equity partners have recouped over half their $1.23 billion investment.

Possible Sale
In February, two people with knowledge of the matter said J.Crew was in talks about a possible sale to Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo. Last month, Drexler said there were no immediate plans for an IPO or sale. The bonds J.Crew sold last year to finance the dividend are indicating diminished odds that the retailer will explore a stock sale anytime soon.

...Initially, Drexler was just what J.Crew needed. After the former Gap Inc. CEO joined in 2003, the chain quickly morphed into the go-to place for younger shoppers looking for stylish T-shirts and making investment purchases of cashmere sweaters; career women couldn’t seem to get enough of the pencil skirts and oversized blazers.

When First Lady Michelle Obama wore a J.Crew cardigan while gabbing on Jay Leno’s couch in 2008 and the first daughters donned Crewcuts, the children’s line, for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, J.Crew reaped fashion status comparable to superstars such as Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan.

Key Rationale
But by the time Drexler took the New York-based company private, it was starting to flag. A key rationale for the $3 billion buyout was giving Drexler an opportunity to work his magic again without Wall Street watching his every move.

It hasn’t happened. Though store mannequins are skillfully designed to prod shoppers into buying outfits for day and evening, there’s a sameness to the fashions, said Shaz Kahng, who advises private-equity and hedge-fund firms about retail and luxury goods. As prices have crept up, younger shoppers, once a mainstay, have fled to Uniqlo, H&M and Zara, she said.

Elleree Erdos, a 24-year-old associate at Craig F. Starr Gallery in New York, no longer gets her basics at J.Crew, as she did in college. “Their basics are a little pricey,” she said. “And their statement pieces are just so branded that if I got a dress at J.Crew five of my friends would say, ‘So-and-so has that dress,’ and that’s not what I want in clothes.”

HBO Hit
Creative director Jenna Lyons, a style icon who appeared on the hit HBO show “Girls” and is a walking advertisement for J.Crew, is under pressure to recapture her fashion mojo. She may be counting on the fall collection, which includes slim-fitted coats in an array of hues and wide cropped pants.

The company reported a first-quarter net loss of $30.1 million, compared with income of $29.3 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.9 percent to $592 million as gross margin slipped to 38.7 percent from 44.7 percent. J.Crew incurred a one-time refinancing loss of $36 million in the quarter.

Citigroup Inc. credit analyst Jenna Giannelli projects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $294 million for the current fiscal year, down 21 percent from last year. If operating results continue to decline, the company said this month that it may write down the value of the business.

Boosted Debt
While J.Crew funded the first dividend with cash on hand, it boosted debt by half a billion dollars to $2.05 billion to pay the second one. Cash generation has shrunk, with free cash flow after interest falling to about $40 million in the 12 months ended May 3. The company had $128 million of working capital at the end of the first quarter and a $250 million credit line.

Like many U.S. apparel chains, J.Crew is looking abroad for growth. The company operates three stores in London, two in Hong Kong that opened in May, and 12 in Canada. In an interview in Hong Kong last month, Drexler said he’s targeting capital cities, including Paris, where the chain plans to open one or two locations by the end of 2015.

“The ambition is to go slow and do it well with great integrity, and not do it quickly and lose the quality control,” he said. “When we see the right location, we will take a shop. We’re not looking everywhere and anywhere.”

Beder said Drexler is smart to do the international push while the company is private because of the ramp-up costs. Capital spending has surged 35 percent since fiscal 2011. Still, because J.Crew is a “uniquely driven American product, we’ll have to wait and see if it resonates with Europeans and Asians,” Beder said.

New Markets
In a statement today, a J.Crew representative said: “We are very pleased with the performance of our initial stores in both the U.K. and Hong Kong which are exceeding expectations and rivaling some of our best stores here in the U.S. We’re also excited to explore new markets in both Europe and Asia to open additional stores where we find great locations.”

On a recent Saturday afternoon, J.Crew’s store on London’s fashionable Regent Street was a quiet oasis after the crowded street; none of the checkouts was permanently staffed.

David Anthony, a 46-year-old display manager at a chain of coffee shops, was among the handful of customers browsing the store. He found a cardigan he liked but wasn’t prepared to drop 248 pounds ($420). “Why should I pay that kind of money if I can get something not dissimilar at Zara or H&M?” he said.

This article and the article discussed in last week's "J.Crew's Got an Inventory Problem {no, really?}" post, showcase a store that is struggling to stay on top of their game. J.Crew is still doing well compared to other retailers- as the industry is struggling in general.

My unsolicited advice for J.Crew, to turn things around, has not changed:

1. Offer kill prices for sale items that are a year old. Seeing those items in the sale section, with the same high price point season after season, impacts how customers see the rest of the sale section. (For example, many of us don't bother checking the sale section because we are tired of seeing the same things.)
2. J.Crew needs to offer "classic with a twist" offerings again. For example, more perfect shirts with Liberty for London prints. ...And Summer maxi dresses that are fitted, as oppose to shapeless sacks. ...And bring back custom-prints like the one on the Veruschka Dress.
3. Hire a really good stylist. Treat the catalog, er style guide, like the store mannequins and make customers want to buy the whole outfit.

Trust when I say that I still buy my fair share at J.Crew because they still offer pieces I love. (Right now, it is the only store I buy clothes et al from.) My suggestions just come from a place where I want to see J.Crew back on top. :)

Other tidbits:

1. I thought it was interesting the article & the video associated with the article stated younger shoppers (those in their 20s) are turning away from J.Crew.
2. I am super excited about the Fall Collection. Slim fitting coats? Array of hues? I am in!
3. Dayum! Mickey got a great return on investment turning $11 million into $300 million in less than 10 years. If only I could get such a return on my savings... ;)

What are your thoughts on the article ? Do you think J.Crew will continue to perform well under Mickey Drexler? Any points caught your interest? :)

J.Crew Mercantile: Not What You or J.Crew Thinks

About two weeks ago, we learned about J.Crew's newest venture in Mercantile (refer to the "J.Crew Opens a Cheaper Line: J.Crew Mercantile" post). Well, it turns out there is a bit more (or less, depending on how you see) to the story.

The following is from NY Mag the Cut (click here to read in its entirety):

Mickey Drexler Says Relax About Those J.Crew Mercantile Rumors
By Véronique Hyland
May 7, 2014

J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler dampened our hopes just a little today when he told WWD that his company bought the license to the name J.Crew Mercantile simply because he liked the name — not necessarily because, as previously reported, J.Crew is planning to launch a cheaper line.

“Mercantile is a name we own. There’s not much beyond that. It’s a name that was available and we liked. The way we run the company, we are always thinking creatively, innovating, and managing our assets. We have secured names and trademarks with either loose ideas or intentions, or with our imaginations. Sometimes things come of it, or they don’t," said Drexler, adding that the company has registered several other names over the years, though he declined to specify them.

As for media reports that the company might be using the name to launch a lower-priced offshoot, Drexler said: “It’s kind of been distorted beyond the reality of what it is." Maybe the positive response to these reports ought to change his mind? After all, J.Crew is known for listening to the vox populi.

Over at the Fashionista (click here to read in its entirety), they share the following tidbits:

“Mercantile is a name we own. There’s not much beyond that. It’s a name that was available and we liked," Mickey Drexler told WWD.

“It doesn’t require any work to register a name,” Drexler continued. “Most of the time, things don’t come out of it. We are always focusing on our existing businesses.”

Hard to say much about J.Crew Mercantile now that it sounds like nothing is confirmed.

However, I am curious if J.Crew came out denying the lower priced concept store amidst some concern over cannibalizing sales. It did seem like the media was excited about the new concept store, even though most JCAs were not.


Personally, I would love to see J.Crew Mercantile be an off shoot of J.Crew rooted in "classic with a twists" offerings that might be not fit the current direction of regular J.Crew. I would love to see quality pieces that take a nod towards past collections with an updated take. In particular, I want to see more beautiful prints. For example, during Summer offer the pineapple or lobster prints on knee length skirts. For Fall, offer an updated version of the Vershuka Dress. For Winter, offer some fabulous silk scarves like the London or Paris ones. While I am at it, they can bring back the Cece Flats and the Fleur Suede Peep Toe heels.

What are your thoughts on this news? Are you excited about the possibility of J.Crew's newest store concept not being a cheaper line? Do you think you will shop there?

Working With Mickey Drexler

"Thanks!" to Sommer who shared the following article from the Business of Fashion (click here to read in its entirety).

At Work With Mickey Drexler: Millard “Mickey” Drexler mixes great instinct and good data to bring that special something to J.Crew.
By Imran Amed and Lauren Sherman
April 30, 2014

Mickey Drexler’s office is like a boardroom. Or better yet: a gigantic cubicle, barely portioned off from a cluster of administrators. His desk is a massive conference table with just a handful of papers stacked next to a phone. Whiteboards occupy two corners of the room. One displays a list of ideas relating to Wallace & Barnes (a heritage collection that’s part of J.Crew’s men’s offering) and includes phrases like, “where is the puck going?” and “sweats.” The other contains a more random collection of thoughts, including a quote from writer Glenn O’Brien that reads, “Anything that fights conformity is good.” The only indication that we are in someone’s office is the array of family photos lined up on low-to-the-ground wooden shelving.

...What Drexler does do is keep his finger on the pulse, calling his top employees in and out of his office any time he has a bright idea or a big concern. Call it micro-managing, sure, but it’s more like constant questioning. “The fact of the matter is, he’s a meddler,” says J.Crew’s president and executive creative director Jenna Lyons. “But one of the benefits of working for someone who has been so successful is that he doesn’t have anything to prove. He’s not fearful of anything but not being happy and enjoying what he does.”

...In Drexler’s world, iPods are skirts — and lately, he’s been seeing a lot of them. “I walked into the photo studio and three out of four women there were wearing skirts. And I said, ‘Wow, what’s with the skirts?’ And, then, they told me where they were from and none of them were from J.Crew, which didn’t make me happy, because they were otherwise wearing mostly J.Crew stuff.” After this revelation, Drexler hit up his sales team for data on the company’s skirt business. Turns out, it’s doing “amazing,” he says. So why weren’t those J.Crew employees wearing J.Crew skirts? His instinct was to bring in the marketing team. “I would like J.Crew to have the authority to communicate, to say, ‘It’s about skirts or it’s about sweats,’” he says. “Whatever the category is, I’d like us to communicate emotionally to consumers.” Unsurprisingly, Drexler has hired away several magazine editors, marketers and salespeople from publications including Vogue, Glamour and GQ. The circulation for the company’s Style Guide (formerly known as the, uh, catalogue) is undisclosed, but the company says it’s comparable to that of America’s largest fashion magazines (InStyle’s 2013 circulation was 1.7 million, while Vogue’s was 1.2 million).

If something doesn’t sell well — and with the number of different products J.Crew has on the sales floor at any given time, it happens — Drexler wants to figure out exactly why, and how he can change things to make it a winner. He’s also open to doing smaller runs on more rarefied pieces. Dropped samples—prototypes that are never produced — are inevitable at every level of fashion.

But Lyons says it’s not as rampant at J.Crew as it once was. “Listen, we overdevelop and we will never have room for everything, that’s just the way it goes,” she explains. “However, one of the things I think that is unique about today is, we’ll go through [products] with Mickey and say, ‘Oh there’s this selvedge wide-cuff jean, but it’s $300. We could take off the hand-seams and the sanding [to get the price down],’ and Mickey will come in and say, ‘No, no, let’s just leave it the way it is, it’s beautiful. Let’s just put it in fewer stores and charge what it should be.’” J.Crew’s limited-edition runs result in sellout items every season. They may not do as much for the company’s bottom line as its classic cashmere sweaters or Matchstick jeans, but they are an important part of the product offering that the brand has become known for.

...“I wish I had a boss like me in my early years,” Drexler says with frank delivery. “I’m not self-congratulatory. But I mean someone who had a point of view, a vision, and passionately believed in what they were doing and the direction the business should have.”...

Per usual, here are my random thoughts:

(1) Funny he should mention skirts and no one in the J.Crew office wearing them. This is an area I feel like J.Crew has dropped the ball on for the past few years (not enough a-line, knee-length, or pretty-print skirts). I find it even funnier that despite no one in the office wearing J.Crew skirts, the skirt category is doing "amazing". Really?! Really? I am guessing it is related to a specific type of skirt: pencil. J.Crew is lucky they make beautiful pencil skirts.

(2) I love that J.Crew is still calling the catalog a style guide. Let's just call it a catalog because it is a catalog.

(3) If Drexler wants to figure out why things don't sell out, let him look no further than the comments on this blog! Unfortunately, the thinking that "smaller runs on more rarefied pieces" is not going to solve the problem. If anything, it's going to just exasperate the issue. Mickey should take a look at how many Collection pieces (which are produced in small runs) are sitting in the sale section. If J.Crew really wants to solve the problem, then start with quality, and then opening price points. Then take a good look at the item you are selling and when you are selling them. Where are the beautiful prints for Summer? Remember the madras Summer jackets? In fact, outside of neon green and yellow, where is the color at J.Crew for Summer?

(4) The story about the $300 selvedge jean/ matchstick jeans illustrates perfectly my concern about J.Crew. J.Crew would rather focus on the expensive selvedge jean, an item no one knows them for and that they *might* break even on, over the classic items that customers actually want and make the company money. Sigh.

Re-reading my notes, it sounds like I am down on J.Crew. I am really not. Still love the brand. Really. :)

What are your thoughts on the article ? Do you think J.Crew will continue to perform well under Mickey Drexler? Any points caught your interest? :)

J.Crew In the News: Will They Be Bought? Go Public? Who Knows?

"Thanks!" to so many of you, for letting us know about the following news about our favorite retailer.

The following is from the Wall Street Journal (click here to read in its entirety):

J.Crew in Talks to be Sold to Japan's Fast Retailing U.S. Retailer Is Seeking as Much as $5 Billion in a Sale
Mike Spector And Dana Mattioli
February 28, 2014

The owners of J.Crew Group Inc. are in talks to sell the clothing retailer to Japan's Fast Retailing Co. for as much as $5 billion, a deal that would help the Asian company fulfill its ambition of becoming a global retailing powerhouse.

Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo apparel chain, approached J.Crew's management about potentially buying the private-equity-owned business, said people familiar with the matter. J.Crew is seeking upward of $5 billion for the business, one of the people said. It remained unclear whether Fast Retailing would pay that much and whether the two sides have yet discussed a price.

The talks, which heated up this week, are at an early stage and could fall apart, this person cautioned. J.Crew also recently received takeover overtures from a couple other suitors, this person said. Their identities couldn't be learned.

The discussions come as J.Crew's owners, private-equity firms TPG and Leonard Green & Partners LP, are considering an initial public offering for the apparel chain later this year. In January, the company asked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to begin work on a potential IPO, the people said. IPO planning hasn't progressed beyond that, one person said. ...

Mr. Yanai, 65 and one of Japan's richest men, has long been an admirer of J.Crew Chairman and CEO Millard S. "Mickey" Drexler, said people familiar with the matter. From 1995 until 2002, Mr. Drexler, 69, was CEO of Gap Inc. as sales rose to $14.5 billion from $4.4 billion.

Fast Retailing, which employs more than 23,000 people and has a market capitalization of about $36 billion, owns other brands besides Uniqlo, including Comptoirs des Cotonniers, Helmut Lang, Theory and Princesse Tam Tam. Uniqlo sells T-shirts, sweaters, and cold-weather gear to men, women and children, with prices as low as $9.99 for a pair of jeans. ...

Mr. Yanai studied Gap's retail aesthetic under Mr. Drexler, and used it as a model for Uniqlo's lineup of T-shirts, sweaters and khakis, the people said. Mr. Yanai was so consumed with Gap's look during the 1980s and '90s that he referred to Mr. Drexler as "professor" when the two eventually met in Tokyo, said a person with knowledge of the meeting. Mr. Yanai for some time had a photo of them together in his office, this person said.

In the past, Mr. Yanai and investment bankers discussed Fast Retailing buying Gap, which currently has a market value of nearly $20 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Drexler is known to have an eye for spotting trends early and an obsessive attention to detail. In 2011, J.Crew opened its first store in Canada. More recently, the company opened stores in London, aiming to take its classic American looks abroad. In addition to its namesake stores, J.Crew also has a brand called Madewell, outlet stores and a children's line.

Former Fast Retailing executives have said Mr. Yanai, who along with family members own more than a third of the company's shares, wrestles with two sometimes opposing wishes: his eagerness to make a splashy deal in the U.S. and his refusal to pay a penny more than what he perceives to be fair value.

As a result, former executives have said, the company has studied potential U.S. acquisitions, only to see Mr. Yanai scrap the deal at the last minute over small differences over price. Still, Fast Retailing has been snapping up American brands. In 2012 for example, it acquired an 80.1% stake in premium denim company J. Brand for $290 million.

But the company's U.S. expansion has been bumpy. In 2006, Uniqlo rolled out mall stores throughout the U.S. only to close them within a year because of poor results.

Well, they did not plan to stay private for too long, now did they!?! ;) Interesting to see what ends up transpiring. At this point, nothing is certain.

I personally think J.Crew will go public again, instead of being bought outright. In any case, I hope J.Crew can maintain "the things they do best" like their amazing customer service.

What are your thoughts? Do you think J.Crew will be bought out or go public? What do you hope they do?

J.Crew in the News: Prices the Same or Lower?

"Thanks!" to Cubbiccino (in this post), as well as others, who shared the following quotes from J.Crew (check out Huffington Post article here to read more):

J.Crew Appeals To The Masses By Balancing Prices
By Jamie Feldman
January 29, 2014

....According to the report in Women's Wear Daily, we can expect more reasonable price tags on the racks at J.Crew as well.

"For spring, you'll see our prices much more friendly this year," said Drexler. "We can't compete with designers. Our Madison Avenue and 66th Street Collection store does an enormous amount of business."

UPDATE: Women's Wear Daily reported Tuesday on comments made by J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler that the company would have "more friendly" prices in 2014. And of course, we all rejoiced. However, it turns out this is not exactly the case.

A representative at J.Crew clarified Drexler's remarks to The Huffington Post, stating that the retailer will not in fact be lowering their prices. The goal, however, is "simply maintaining a balance of pricing across the board and better communicating to our customers what we have and why it is worth the price it is."

The original quote from J.Crew's Mickey Drexler caused quite a stir online last week. A lot of high-fives until J.Crew dropped the second quote. ;)

In all fairness, the first quote totally made it sound like J.Crew was going to start introducing more reasonable prices to avoid lowering them later on. Which would make sense if they were going with the, "let's not run all these sales and have things properly priced, right at the gate" strategy. Especially considering how many things are lingering in the sale section these past few months, even with the additional 40% to 50% off sales.

Well, J.Crew can keep their "balance of pricing" strategy "as is". It is fine with me. Why? Because I can wait a few weeks, when the item I am interested goes on sale. (And 9 out of 10 times, the item goes on sale. HA!)

What are your thoughts on the initial price points at J.Crew? Are they on-target, too high, too low? Share your viewpoint!