J.Crew Group will open the first J.Crew Mercantile location in late July at The Shops at Park Lane in Dallas, TX. According to the company, J.Crew Mercantile stores “will feature a collection of value-driven merchandise with classic J.Crew style for women, men and children.”
It sounds like the merchandise is similar to what’s available at the J.Crew Factory, the name of the company’s chain of outlet stores, based on this other sentence in the company’s statement: “Once only available in J.Crew Factory stores, the collection is designed exclusively for J.Crew Factory and now J.Crew Mercantile. Located in convenient retail centers, J.Crew Mercantile stores will make the collection even more accessible to customers.”
As the struggling J.Crew has become increasingly upscale, some have wondered if it’s alienated its core customer. J.Crew Mercantile stories will offer cost-conscious customers an alternative.
A spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that there will be more shops coming in strip centers and malls, although it’s unclear how many J.Crew Mercantile stores the company plans on opening overall.
Previously, J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler told WWD: “Mercantile is a name we own. There’s not much beyond that. It’s a name that was available and we liked. The way we run the company, we are always thinking creatively, innovating, and managing our assets. We have secured names and trademarks with either loose ideas or intentions, or with our imaginations. Sometimes things come of it, or they don’t.”
