Thursday, June 11, 2015

Jobs Cuts Announced by J. Crew on the Back of a Poor First Quarter
JUN 11, 2015
Jaime Wilson

The J. Crew Team said that it was doing away with 175 people in its corporate workplace.

The news starts on the back of a frustrating first quarter for the firm and increasing pressure on the firm’s women’s wear company.

Reports appeared today and were confirmed in a night press release that the firm was cutting back 10 percent of its staff and making significant layout department changes. Somsack Sikhounmuong will be taking over the J. Crew brand name women’s line promptly. Tom Mora, the erstwhile head is leaving the business.

In the first quarter, J. Crew reported a loss of $462.4 million with a bottom line of $30.1 million in the first quarter of last year. The total revenue of the firm slid to $581.8 million compared to $592 million in the year ago quarter. The online sales of J. Crew dropped and Madewell’s increased in the quarter.

Joyce Lee has been called head of ladies’ type for Madewell. “We are making critical adjustments in management for future growth. Many of these decisions were tough but are essential,” said J. Crew chairman and CEO Mickey Drexler. “With Somsack in his brand-new duty, we will focus on critical renovations to our J. Crew women’s array. We know what should be done and while several of these initiatives take some time, we have a dedicated group to make it happen.”

In last week’s conference call, Drexler claimed that the company had made several miscalculations over the previous quarters. From underestimating the timeless Tippi cardigan orders to top quality complaints concerning the brand’s timeless ballet apartments, the record had not been impressive.

Sikhounmuong has acted as the Madewell head of type and was doing better compared to the struggling J. Crew brand name. He will report to Jenna Lyons, the executive imaginative supervisor and head of state of the company.

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