No one understands shopping like J. Crew’s Mickey Drexler. With three successful turnarounds under his belt — Ann Taylor, Gap and now J. Crew — the ‘merchant prince’ is on a roll. Here’s WSJ magazine with the report:
Mickey Drexler, who turns 66 in August, grew up about half a mile from the restaurant at 2911 Barnes Avenue. At J. Crew, where he is now CEO (and an 11.8 percent shareholder), there is a black-and-white photograph of him as a child, age 10, sitting with his friends on the steps of the home owned by his grandmother Frieda. With his Keds sneakers, rolled-up jeans and zippered jacket, he is the picture of 1950s preppydom; he could just as likely be any kid from Greenwich, Kennebunkport or any other bastion of Waspiness. “I dressed kinda preppy even then,” Drexler says as we drive down Lydig Avenue in his chauffeured black Mercedes, peering at the run-down haunts of his youth. He credits his love of clothes to his father, a former garment-district worker. “He was always well turned out. I think he spent a good portion of his salary on clothes.” – from WSJ