I'm *THIS* Close to Giving up on MJ!

iluvmybags

& My Motos & Shoes!
O.G.
Sep 13, 2006
39,021
2,163
I am very saddened with recent choices that have been made by the MJ company. First, half the F/W season shown on the MJ website wasn't even made and what was made was made in such limited quantities/colors that there's not a lot as far as selection goes -- now I get word that "Robert" (the President) was in Chicago yesterday and PULLED ALL THE COLLECTION BAGS, SHOES AND CLOTHING from the store! Needless to say the store manager and SAs are furious (this on top of some big shakeup last week where many longtime MJ employees left).

We are supposed to be getting a collection store (which originally was slated to open late Aug/early Sept), but the opening was bumped back til at least Jan/Feb. (and the last time I was by there, it didn't even look like they had been working in there -- it was a DISASTER zone!), so the only way I can see certain bags is by visiting the MbyMJ store or having things transferred in -- well, no more. If you want to buy it, they'll transfer it, otherwise, you're SOL!

I don't know about you, but I don't like to buy bags blindly. I like to see them in person, try them on, make sure they're in good condition and that the style will work -- if I want a bag now, I have to buy it and if it doesn't meet my expectations I'll have to return it FOR STORE CREDIT!

While I can understand the state of our recent economy and the reduction in designs and styles released, this latest decision seems a little extreme & drastic and I guess since it effects me personally, it really has made me upset and left wondering what the heck is going on? Are they trying to push away good/loyal customers?
 
JJ
it's very sad if the company is turning in that direction. Wow, unbelievable. I have never seen an MBMJ store, my state does not have MJ or MBMJ store, so my only option to purchase Mj is via Nordsrom, saks or neimanmarcus. I stick with Nordstrom most of the time b/c of their customer service/return policy. I hope as the economy turns around, things will get back to "normal" or is it ever going back to the past???
 
i'm sorry that it will be more difficult for you to see the collection items in person from now on.

i think i understand why robert duffy removed collection stock from your store. same store sales for mj is probably down, which does not look good on quarterly reports. mj was down in Q2 and there's a good chance that there could be a further decrease in revenue come Q3. mbmj, on the other hand, has fared much better in the downturn because of the lower price points (e.g. why buy a $1500 bag when i could get the $400 one? they're both marc jacobs!)

when a sale is made at an mbmj store, it counts towards their same store sale figures and not at the collection boutiques. so while the numbers look good for mbmj, it doesn't bolster mj's figures even though it's the collection bags that's being sold. the rationale that mj collection has enough presence in chicago currently via nordstrom, saks, and barneys that it's not necessary to sell via the mbmj boutique might have factored into the decision as well. if the bags sell there, those stores will continue to buy wholesale from mj next season and the season after that. also, it seems the department stores ordered a wider variety of bags then the boutiques are carrying anyway.

i very much understand your anger, and this explanation is not likely to make you feel any better. i doubt their intention is to alienate their loyal customers, but they are a business. there's a ton of pressure from lvmh for all of their brands to perform well. material, promotional, and expansion budgets depend solely on how good a brand's financial reports makes the corporation look. it's not performing well? that means less allocated dollars in the capital plan for 2010. more constraints. lower quality. no need to put money into something that's not making you money. there's a reason you don't see as many donna karan ads as you do mj because dk is just not as profitable. the worse mj does, the more likely lvmh will concentrate on something else which will make them a good profit (right now that's lv), and mj will suffer even more.
 
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Ok, this does it for me. I am buying every MJ bag I want now so I won't be crying later because I can't find it. I am doing my part for the economy, that's for sure!!!
I will be changing my "I will not buy any more handbags" signature. :bagslap:
 
While I know I shouldn't take it personally, it's hard not to. I never shopped at MJ stores til last year. But once I bought that first bag, I was hooked and when I discovered the assortment of collection items at MbyMJ, it was even better -- I didn't buy a single bag from Nordstroms last year and I was always a faithful Nordies shopper. I passed up sales and markdowns just to have the "boutique experience" and I spent a lot of money at that store.

I just feel like ok fine, you don't want my business I'll take it elsewhere and that really leaves a "bad taste in my mouth." And while there are dept stores carrying MJ bags, the variety I've seen is not very wide, not to mention the level of customer service at most of those stores really sucks!

The other thing is if I'm not going there for collection bags and SLGs, chances are I won't be buying MbyMJ things there either -- I rarely bought the clothes anyhow since they would always go on sale at the dept stores, but if I'm not going there for my bags anymore I really have no reason to shop there anymore (unless its for the Special Items and even those things -- they were always "extras" when I bought my bags)

I hope that the collection store opens when they believe it will, but even then I have to wonder if I will ship there as much I used to -- once you loose a customer, it's really hard to earn their trust and get them back. Right now, I'm just not feeling very loyal to MJ anymore, which is really sad considering how long I've been buying his clothes and bags
 
the other thing this leaves me wondering is whether or not that Collection store really will open at all. If MJ sales are down overall, they may cancel plans for expansion -- I tell you, the last time I went by the store's location it looked like there had been no progress movement at all. The store was ripped apart with nothing but beams and cement -- porta potties filled entire section.

I also wonder if the MbyMJ's days are numbered here in Chicago. If they remove all the collection items, thats gotta reduce the sales numbers for that store -- if it was performing poorly before, how is this going to improve it? I would think it'll only get worse
 
Got a little more background and info regarding this "scandal"!!
Apparently, this wasn't the plan or the reason for his trip to Chicago. From what I can gather, something happened that made him mad and caused him to yank all the collection bags and clothing from the store (SLGs and sunglasses are still in place - no bags, scarves or clothing anymore). It was an "in the heat of the moment" spontaneous decision that no one saw coming.

One thing's for certain -- it changes the entire look and atmosphere of the store. When you walked in before, there was this wall of bags sitting right there to greet you. You couldn't help but stop and look and admire them all (I don't think I was ever in that store when someone wasn't looking at the collection handbags) -- now it's all clothes (Tshirts, sweater, Special Items mixed in) and the "WOW" factor is completely gone and lost
 
I'm sorry to hear that there was such a shake up at the Chicago MbMJ. ITA with Tad though, try not and take it personally. I'm sure they appreciate your business, but one customer can't always change the course a boutique(let alone a very, very large company like LMVH). I have heard directly that the company is becoming much more strict about certain things and perhaps the overlap between MJ and MbMJ falls beneath that umbrella. The MbMJ boutiques foster a very different aesthetic and atmosphere than the collection stores and I wonder if that alone had anything to do with it. After all the hoopla from last year's basement bargain department store sales I'm sure there is some sensitivity to the way the collection stuff is perceived and presented. I don't know the Chicago MbMJ at all so I could be wrong here, but if I feel that the sales floor of the MbMJ stores is a bit too informal for the collection bags. Just saying. . .(don't hit me!). . .

I do hope that the Chicago collection store opens up ASAP, but in the meantime I would rely on Nordies since they rock so hard in the CS department :tup:.
 
I do hope that the Chicago collection store opens up ASAP, but in the meantime I would rely on Nordies since they rock so hard in the CS department :tup:.
Not our Nordies! I'm always shocked at how awful their CS is -- I used to have a really good SA I worked with, but she got promoted and changed depts. The SAs that work in handbags now not only know very little about what they're selling, they never call regarding sales and/or new items, never price match and/or offer any kind of price adjustments (the last 2 sales that everyone was having matched at their Nordstroms (Bloomies & Saks), the Mich Ave store refused to budge and wouldn't price match ANYTHING) OakBrook's a little better, but it's not easy for me to get out there too often and they don't carry half as much as the Michigan Avenue store carries

The other things is, the dept stores don't seem to carry very much MJ at all -- Nordstroms probably has the best selection, but I don't think any one of them are getting the Jumbo Waves bags and I was "reserving judgment" on those til I saw them in person!!

I've discovered a few little "boutiques" out of state that I think I might utilize for the time being when there's something that I want
 
Got a little more background and info regarding this "scandal"!!
Apparently, this wasn't the plan or the reason for his trip to Chicago. From what I can gather, something happened that made him mad and caused him to yank all the collection bags and clothing from the store (SLGs and sunglasses are still in place - no bags, scarves or clothing anymore). It was an "in the heat of the moment" spontaneous decision that no one saw coming.

One thing's for certain -- it changes the entire look and atmosphere of the store. When you walked in before, there was this wall of bags sitting right there to greet you. You couldn't help but stop and look and admire them all (I don't think I was ever in that store when someone wasn't looking at the collection handbags) -- now it's all clothes (Tshirts, sweater, Special Items mixed in) and the "WOW" factor is completely gone and lost

maybe he didn't like the operations. maybe he was unhappy with the sa's. whatever it was, it angered him enough to think it was best to remove the collection items. if having them there made the company money, i don't see why he'd transfer them out. it's possible that it was an unplanned decision, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a good reason behind it, which your sa would be relunctant to divulge to you. :shrugs:
 

maybe he didn't like the operations. maybe he was unhappy with the sa's. whatever it was, it angered him enough to think it was best to remove the collection items. if having them there made the company money, i don't see why he'd transfer them out. it's possible that it was an unplanned decision, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a good reason behind it, which your sa would be relunctant to divulge to you. :shrugs:

There's obviously more to the story than what they told me - but from what they did say and how they said it, it was obvious that SOMETHING happened during his visit on Thursday. There's actually been other things lately -- the Asst Mgr left 2 weeks ago and a few SAs went w/him. He's been with MJ for a while (even worked in NY w/Gabby a while back). That came out of the blue as well (I talked to him one day, the next day he was gone). I can tell they're not happy about this either - but at least they're supposed to start work on the collection store this week, so hopefully once they get going, it'll move fast - the target date is January 15th, so we'll see what happens
 
It's business, it's not personal.

LVMH just posted a net profit decrease of 23% so it's not a surprise that they are going to make changes in any area that they have direct control over.

There's no such thing as business as usual in this environment.
 
I'm surprised the new store isn't opening prior to holiday shopping. I also think the boutique location sucks...I would've planned for somewhere a bit more touristy - like off of Michigan Ave. by Barney's & Tory Burch...
 
I'm surprised the new store isn't opening prior to holiday shopping. I also think the boutique location sucks...I would've planned for somewhere a bit more touristy - like off of Michigan Ave. by Barney's & Tory Burch...

actually, the Collection Boutique is going to be directly across the street from the new Barneys -- its the anchor store in the new Elysian Hotel (Rush & Walton). It was originally supposed to open at the end of summer (Aug/Sept), but got pushed back til January (same thing basically happened with the MbyMJ store -- it too was supposed to open in Aug (2007), but was pushed back and didn't open til mid-January (2008)

while we were talking yesterday, he (my SA) basically said kinda the same thing -- anyone who's looking for the collection bags is going to look downtown and hit up Barneys, NM, Saks or Nordies - they won't be in Bucktown at North & Milwaukee!!