J Crew ~aholics Thread!
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Same here. I don't think the quality of their products warrants full priced purchases anymore [emoji22]
only when my SA calls me for private events or when the sale hits 40 or 50% off. My love for the Crew has drastically declined and looks like I'm not the only one.
They really need to go back and look at J Crew circa 07/08/09 - whatever they were doing at that time, bring it back! the quality of the clothes - great, designs - fantastic, price points - right on.
Not everybody wants to dress like Jenna Lyons in sequin pants and plaid shirts with high heels to a formal event
No and the last time I went to the mall I didn't even bother stopping in. However, I have been buying a lot of pieces that I missed the first go around on EBay and Poshmark.
I totally agree DC cutie, I'm not particularly fond of Jenna Lyons' style.
I totally agree DC cutie, I'm not particularly fond of Jenna Lyons' style.
Interesting article about this posted on JCA from Washington Post.
Sorry, J.Crew. Female shoppers just arent that into you.
By Sarah Halzack
March 23, 2015
It wasnt 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 brands 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.Crews own making: It filled its stores with clothes that women really just werent into. Weve made some mistakes, Drexler said, including missteps in our iconic classics.
Drexler said the womens business has been challenging recently and that the fits, silhouettes and color palette of the clothes simply havent 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 werent buying their skinny-cut Pixie or Minnie pants last year, you probably werent buying womens 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. ...
Gaps 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. Shes 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 years slowdown, that talk has died down.
Reviving the womens business isnt J.Crews 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. Crews womens business, the company remains determined to win back its core female shopper. She is loyal as hell until we go wrong, Drexler said.
http://jcrewaficionada.blogspot.com/2015/03/do-you-still-heart-jcrew.html?m=1
Sorry, J.Crew. Female shoppers just arent that into you.
By Sarah Halzack
March 23, 2015
It wasnt 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 brands 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.Crews own making: It filled its stores with clothes that women really just werent into. Weve made some mistakes, Drexler said, including missteps in our iconic classics.
Drexler said the womens business has been challenging recently and that the fits, silhouettes and color palette of the clothes simply havent 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 werent buying their skinny-cut Pixie or Minnie pants last year, you probably werent buying womens 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. ...
Gaps 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. Shes 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 years slowdown, that talk has died down.
Reviving the womens business isnt J.Crews 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. Crews womens business, the company remains determined to win back its core female shopper. She is loyal as hell until we go wrong, Drexler said.
http://jcrewaficionada.blogspot.com/2015/03/do-you-still-heart-jcrew.html?m=1
I order mainly online but I popped into the mall Thursday. I bought the floral lace sheath dress in Caribbean Sea. It fit me well and the price was great. The service was also excellent -- the SA was super friendly and hung my dress and put it in a cloth garment bag! I've never had that happen at J. Crew before. I liked the dress so much that I went home and ordered it in navy. I really like the raspberry color, too! I'll definitely get a lot of use out of the dresses and they can be dressed up or down. I also like the rolled sleeve pocket tees. They are very soft and have a nice drape.
Dress: https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/dresses/day/PRDOVR~C7152/C7152.jsp?color_name=caribbean-sea
Tee: https://www.jcrew.com/womens_catego...&isFromSearch=true&isNewSearch=true&hash=row0
I have more of a classic style and I have been shopping at J. Crew since the 1990s so it would be nice to see some of the traditional quality and style return. Most of what I purchase there is classic rather than trendy and I am not a fan of the ripped jeans with heels and bold jewelry aesthetic they've been promoting the past several years.
Dress: https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/dresses/day/PRDOVR~C7152/C7152.jsp?color_name=caribbean-sea
Tee: https://www.jcrew.com/womens_catego...&isFromSearch=true&isNewSearch=true&hash=row0
I have more of a classic style and I have been shopping at J. Crew since the 1990s so it would be nice to see some of the traditional quality and style return. Most of what I purchase there is classic rather than trendy and I am not a fan of the ripped jeans with heels and bold jewelry aesthetic they've been promoting the past several years.
I have found the fit of their clothes unflattering. Most of them are overwhelmingly huge even in the 00/000 or XXS/XXXS size range, I'm practically swimming in them. Enough with the vanity sizing already!
I started shopping at J Crew before 2000. Back in the early 2000s, their tailored suits were made in Japan and swimwear were made in USA/Canada. Those were the golden ages.
I started shopping at J Crew before 2000. Back in the early 2000s, their tailored suits were made in Japan and swimwear were made in USA/Canada. Those were the golden ages.
I still love Jcrew, but their price hikes are getting out of hand!! Something from the article above, seems like they are missing out, the reason their customers shop only during promotions is because they think how much the items should have been priced to begin with 30-40% less!! The quality has dropped, so I don't buy very expensive investment pieces from them any more! I have a winter double cloth lady day coat from 2005 and the fabric feels different than the newer versions. And there are too many copy cats of Jcrew, a lot of times you can get the same look shopping from Target!!!
Forgot to mention, their Elsie pumps are part of the promotion this time around, which is rare. Great dupe for Manolo BBs.
As a very small person, J. Crew's vanity sizing makes me 
Why can't they just size NORMALLY instead of having to make 000/XXXS that still don't fit?
Why can't they just size NORMALLY instead of having to make 000/XXXS that still don't fit?
I absolutely agree. I used to be a fanatic for J. Crew, and am a card holder. But I've realized a lot of their styles are similar to things I can find from the Target Merona line. I have 3 gingham shirts from J. Crew, and one from Merona. When I recently went into Crew I realized that their "crinkle" gingham button-downs are the same texture and thickness as my $10 Target version. Now I try to find something I like at Crew and replicate it when buying elsewhere. Their prices/quality/individuality has changed over the years
But, I'd never give up my Jackie twin sets or Edie handbags haha.