fashion essay

Brands In The News: 1 J. Crew Exits Bankruptcy

Synopsis J.Crew was struggling with a debt load of $1.7 million before the global pandemic hit, but in light of the virus closing store doors, J.Crew fell into total bankruptcy. The brand has had a lot of time to review their store portfolio and make adjustments to financial practices in order to turnaround the business. The restructuring process has put the company’s lenders, Anchorage Capital Group in control of the business which has ultimately forgiven J.Crew’s debt load. With the improvements this brand has made, J.Crew has shifted its values and mission statement to focus more on iconic-timeless products, elevating the brand experience and deepening the relationship with customers, and prioritizing frictionless shopping. These adjustments have put this company back on its feet and set them up for a refreshing new start. Opinion I was initially surprised to find out J.Crew was filing for bankruptcy back in May because it was a store I had shopped at in the past and the local outlet store was always familiar to me. I consider this retailer to be a big brand in the industry and I couldn’t fathom why they were undergoing financial hardships. This implies for the rest of the fashion industry that every brand should have a strong emergency fund should another global crisis occur. Afterall, it was the pandemic that sent a lot of businesses under. For this reason, companies shouldn’t overexert their spending and should always have substantial savings to keep the brand running during a troubling economic downturn. Relevance Finances are an important topic in this class when it comes to building and maintaining a brand in the fashion industry. As evidenced by J.Crew’s almost bankruptcy, it is important for brands to keep their store portfolio fresh and their mission statement relevant to the customer as well in order to keep them coming in the store. No business can function without monetary support, and this remains relevant to class topics because we have been evaluating what makes a brand, brand basics, and how to build a brand. Wilson, M (2020). J.Crew Exits Bankruptcy. ​Chain Store Age ​https://chainstoreage.com/ j-crew-exits-bankruptcy