J. Crew heads to bankruptcy with filings expected to be as early as next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news.
Like many other U.S. retailers, J. Crew was struggling well before the coronavirus hit.
For years the company failed to update its look and in the process lost customers. Everyone ‘liked’ J. Crew but increasingly fewer actually shopped there.
J. Crew also fell into the same pattern of constant discounting that has chewed up profits at other brands.
Consumers got used to waiting for collections to go on sale – which they did about six weeks after initially dropping in the stores. Then they’d buy those collections at 30-40 percent off.
Well before the pandemic, consumers were ‘trained’ to expect to see steep discounts and promotions on merchandise that was still in season.
Adding to its woes, J. Crew suspended its initial public offering of its Madewell brand after it failed to reach a deal with creditors back in March.
