As J Crew prepares to cut the ribbon on its UK flagship store, Retail Week highlights some interesting key facts and figures about the hotly anticipated US retailer.

  • The retailer was founded in 1983 as a catalogue-only company. Six years later J Crew opened its first flagship store in New York. It now operates 442 stores across North America.
  • In the US, the retailer also operates standalone shops for its kidswear label Crewcuts, denim brand Madewell and J Crew Factory outlets alongside its J Crew stores.
  • Sales rose 11% to $422.3m (£262.6m) for the third quarter of the year.
  • Drexler took the retailer public in 2006, then private again in 2010 in a management buyout backed by private equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners.
  • When Drexler took over J Crew, he set up a loudspeaker system at the company’s head office to communicate more directly with his collegues.
  • Each year some 80 million copies of its catalogue are printed every year.
  • Drexler is known for personally answering customer emails, even going as far as calling up shoppers.
  • Presenter Alexa Chung and singer Solange Knowles have appeared in campaigns for Madewell.
  • Jenna Lyons, president and creative director of J Crew, is said to be a driving force in turning around J Crew. She joined J Crew at 21 and this year was listed in Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential people list.
  • The retailer rolled out its ecommerce site to over 100 countries in early 2012.
  • Drexler made his TV debut on hit show Breaking Bad in August after telling producers he was obsessed with the hit US drama. He appeared as a customer at protagonist Walter White’s carwash in an eight-second stint.