A window display at a J Crew store overlooks a quiet Rockefeller Center, Saturday, May 2, 2020, in New York. On April 30, the company announced it would apply for bankruptcy protection amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
By Anne D'Innocenzio
The owner of J.Crew is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, two months after the first person in New York tested positive for COVID-19.
The city, where J.Crew Group Inc. is based, went into lockdown soon after, followed by much the country. Retail stores in New York City and across the country shut their doors.
More bankruptcies across the retail sector are expected in coming weeks.
J.Crew, already in trouble before the pandemic and laden with debt, and was acquired by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners for $3 billion in 2011.
Operations at J.Crew will continue throughout a restructuring and clothing will still be available to purchase online.
The company said Monday that it anticipates its stores will reopen when it's safe to do so.
Retail veteran Mickey Drexler led J.Crew for more than a decade when it become a coveted fashion brand. But the chain appeared to lose its way at some point and Drexler severed his last ties with the company in January 2019.
There are a number of retail chains that were already teetering at the start of the year, but the pandemic is wreaking havoc equally across the entire sector. J.Crew is not the first to seek protection during the coronavirus outbreak, and no one expects it to be the last.
J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus are expected to follow J.Crew. Jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
Clothing store sales plummeted 50.5% in March, according to the latest Commerce Department report, and it has grown worse since.
In its last full year of operations, J.Crew generated $2.5 billion in sales, a 2 percent increase from the year before.
J.Crew had aimed to spin off its successful Madewell division as a public company and use the proceeds to pay down its debt. The company said Monday that Madewell will remain part of J.Crew Group Inc.
There were 193 J.Crew stores, 172 J.Crew Factory outlets and 132 Madewell locations as of Feb. 1.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
