J Crew
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Headquarters |
770 Broadway, New York City, New York, U.S. |
|
Number of locations
|
551 (January 2016) |
|
Key people
|
Millard Drexler (Chairman and CEO) Jenna Lyons (President and Creative Director) |
| Products | Clothing, shoes and accessories |
| Revenue |
 US$ $2.227 billion (FY 2013)
|
| US$ 253.6 million (FY 2013) |
|
|
US$ 96.08 million (FY 2013)
|
|
| Total assets |
 US$ 3.486 billion (FY 2013)
|
| Total equity |
US$ 1.091 billion (FY 2013)
|
| Owner | TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners |
|
Number of employees
|
15,600 (2015) |
| Divisions | J.Crew crewcuts The Liquor Store The Ludlow Shop J.Crew Factory J.Crew Mercantile Madewell |
| Website | JCrew.com |
J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, loungewear, wedding, bags, sweaters, denim, dresses, suiting, jewelry, and shoes. As of August 2016, it operates more than 450 retail stores throughout the United States. The company conducts its business through retail, factory, crewcuts, Madewell stores, catalogs and online.
In 1947, Mitchell Cinader and Saul Charles founded Popular Merchandise, Inc., a store which did business as Popular Club Plan and sold low-priced women's clothing marketed through in-home demonstrations.
The 1980s marked a booming sales period for catalog retail giants Lands' End, Talbots, and L L Bean. Popular Merchandise initiated its own catalog operation, focusing on leisurewear for upper-middle-class customers, aiming for a Ralph Lauren look at a much lower price. The first Popular Club Plan catalog was mailed to customers in January 1983 and continued under that name until 1989. Popular Club Plan catalogs often showed the same garment in more than one picture with close-up shots of the fabrics, so customers could get a sense of how the garment looked on the body and be assured of the company's claims of quality.
Throughout the mid-1980s, sales from catalog operations grew rapidly. "Growth was explosive—25 to 30 percent a year," Cinader later recollected in The New York Times. Annual sales grew from $3 million to more than $100 million over five years.
In 1985, the "Clifford & Wills" brand was launched, selling women’s clothing that was more affordable than the Popular Merchandise line. The brand was sold to Speigel, Inc. in 2000 with the intent to boost sales.
In 1987, two executives left the company to start their own catalog, Tweeds.
In 1989, Popular Merchandise, Inc. became known as J.Crew, Inc. The company attempted, but failed to sell the Popular Club Plan brand.
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Wikipedia