J.Crew Group Inc.

Type	Public (NYSE: JCG)
Founded	In 1983 as a mail-order catalog
Headquarters	Corporate: New York, New York Distribution: Lynchburg, Virginia, Asheville, North Carolina
Key people	Millard Drexler, Tracy Gardner, Kevin P. Gross, Jim Scully and Carlos Loera, Jill Hennessey-Brown
Industry	Retail
Products	Apparel, Shoes
Revenue	$953 million
Employees	6800
Website	www.jcrew.com

J.Crew Group Inc. (NYSE: JCG) is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in New York, New York. Founded in 1983 by Arthur Cinader with the launch of its mail order catalog, the company expanded into brick and mortar retailing in 1989 with its first store at the South Street Seaport in New York City. The company's corporate headquarters is located at 770 Broadway at E. 9th street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. As of May 2008^[update], the company operates 198 retail stores and 65 outlet stores in the United States.^[1]

The company's website, which was launched in 1996, features online-only products, as well as catalog and retail items. The company operates two distribution centers in the Southern United States, in Lynchburg, Virginia and Asheville, North Carolina. The former doubles as its U.S. call center.^{[citation needed]} Online shipping is also offered to Canada and Japan.

[edit] Products

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The brand features collections of men's and women's clothing, accessories, and shoes, in "classic styles" with a J.Crew "twist". Many of the products feature luxury materials such as Italian cashmere and leather, Czech glass buttons, and British wool. In addition, the company produces a wedding and special occasions line, a high-end line known as the "J.Crew Collection", a children's line called "Crewcuts", and a line called "Crewmutts" that features items for dogs. In 2009, the Crewmutts line was discontinued.

[edit] Initial public offering

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J.Crew, a large stake of which was owned by private equity giant TPG Capital, had its stock market debut initial public offering on June 28, 2006. The company's share price opened over 25% above its IPO offer price on its first day of trading.

The company is listed on the NYSE under the stock ticker JCG. CEO Millard Drexler, a veteran of Gap, took control of 15% of the company following the IPO. Drexler joined the company as CEO and chairman in 2003, and named Jeff Pfeifle as president. ^[2]

[edit] Madewell

Front of a J.Crew outlet store

In May 2006, Drexler announced plans to launch a chain of casual stores in August under the name Madewell. The name is taken from a former workwear company based in New Bedford, Massachusetts.^[3] Madewell has 16 locations as of September 2009^[update].^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• J. Crew official site
• Madewell official site
• The Motley Fool: A J.Crew Review