Dive Brief:
-
J. Crew Group Inc. Thursday reported Q2 falling sales, mitigated somewhat by its lower-priced Madewell brand.
-
Overall Q2 same-store sales dropped 11%, well below the 4% increase year over year. The flagship J. Crew brand saw Q2 same-store sales fell 13% and overall sales drop 10% to $506.5 million.
-
Madewell, though, reported Q2 sales growth of 22% to $67.9 million and same-store sales growth of 8%.
Dive Insight:
J. Crew, like Urban Outfitters and Gap, is now an apparel retail company with a sub-brand that is helping soften the effects of falling sales. Like Gap’s Old Navy brand, Madewell is shaping up to be a lower-priced alternative with a more focused style, and both the price points and the clothes appear to be appealing to shoppers. (Perhaps that’s no surprise, since J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler is the guy who conceived of Old Navy years ago.)
The company once again acknowledged quality issues in its J. Crew brand clothing, including complaints about styling and actual fabric and construction problems, and said it’s taking steps to address them.
“Entering fall, we feel good about the assortments in stores and online, which reflect more emphasis on the key product categories that our customers love J. Crew for,” Drexler said in a statement. “At the same time, our team has taken a hard look at the business and made changes to drive greater efficiency and profitability. We're focused on our performance in the second half of the year and positioning the business for sustained growth."
The retailer could get a boost with the revelation, (especially if it’s confirmed), that Jennifer Aniston reportedly wore a J. Crew veil for her wedding earlier this month.