Madewell opens shops-in-shops in select J.Crew stores

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Mar 1, 2018

Sister brands J.Crew and Madewell are joining forces in an effort to give J.Crew a boost. On Monday, Madewell, a fashion brand owned by the J.Crew Group, opened shops-in-shops at six J.Crew locations.

 
The in-store shops opened in New York at The Shops at Columbus Circle; in Florida at International Plaza and Aventura Mall; in Iowa at the West Des Moines; in New Hampshire in Hanover; and in Connecticut in New Haven.
 
In store, the Madewell shop-in-shops will have a denim focus and will have Madewell’s usual branding including their Denim Bars.

The popular brand was sold to J. Crew in 2007 and though sales are strong, they’re still too small to alleviate J.Crew from its troubles.
 
While Madewell sales have been on the rise, continuing to be a bright spot for its parent company, J.Crew has been combating declining sales for the last two years.
 
Sales fell 12 percent at the New York-based company’s flagship brand in its last quarter reported in November, overshadowing strong growth for its Madewell brand, which included a 22 percent sales jump.

"Our goal is to reinvigorate the J.Crew Brand to reflect the America of today and to continue to drive strong momentum in the Madewell Brand," said CEO Jim Brett, in its last quarterly report.
 
J. Crew also announced plans to close 50 stores this year, up from a previous target of 30.