Product details

This is part of a case series. Founded in 1947 as an affordable women's retailer, J Crew launched a highly successful catalogue in 1983. J Crew's brick and mortar operations and catalogue sales experienced healthy growth through the 1990s. Seeking a cash injection to further growth, and to compete with larger catalogue retailers, the company's founders sold a majority stake in 1997 to Texas Pacific Group. A controversial second private equity buyout in 2011 put the company in the hands of a subsidiary of Chinos Holdings, Inc - a deal made at a time when there were signs that J Crew was failing to adapt to changing customer trends. A series of debt restructurings dug an even deeper financial hole for the company - leading to J Crew becoming the first retailer to file for bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.