Sticker Shock! J. Crew Now Offering Levi’s for 2X the Price at Department Stores
Per J. Crew’s (JCG – $40.45) Q3 2009 conference call:
“To our branded partnership business such as Alden hand crafted men’s shoes from a family-owned New England factory, Belstaff from an English company dating back to 1924, and Quoddy hand-made moccasins from Perry, Maine to name just a few.”
“We are acting as editors, finding and searching for the best quality, timeless products in the world and giving our customers access to them. We feel we are creating a very unique approach and our customers are clearly getting it.”
We applaud JCG for romancing its offering with harder-to-find items such as Selima sunglasses, Globe-Trotter luggage, and Timex watches. These items are particularly appealing because they are categories not already offered at J. Crew.
But we are scratching our heads as to why JCG thinks they need to offer men’s Levi’s501denim (launched February 2010). Today, higher-volume JCG stores offer Levi’s 501 denim in 5 “exclusive” washes that store associates admit are “close to washes found elsewhere.”
More astonishing is that J. Crew slapped a $98 price-tag on Levi’s styles that are priced $48 – $58 for similar styles/washes at department stores. Even Urban Outfitters (URBN – $31.71), a chain that is infamous for its mark-ups doesn’t charge more than $54 for its assortment of Levi’s 501 denim.
We guess that’s what Mr. Drexler means by its “unique approach!”
What’s likely going on here is that J. Crew needs to charge $98 to prevent cannibalization of its own private label $98 men’s denim offering. But we are certain that the J. Crew customer is too savvy to pay 2X for a ubiquitous brand such as Levi’s.
J. Crew expanded its branded partnership business to include men’s Levi’s denim this month
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on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Commentary.
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Sticker Shock! J. Crew Now Offering Levi’s for 2X the Price at Department Stores
Per J. Crew’s (JCG – $40.45) Q3 2009 conference call:
“To our branded partnership business such as Alden hand crafted men’s shoes from a family-owned New England factory, Belstaff from an English company dating back to 1924, and Quoddy hand-made moccasins from Perry, Maine to name just a few.”
“We are acting as editors, finding and searching for the best quality, timeless products in the world and giving our customers access to them. We feel we are creating a very unique approach and our customers are clearly getting it.”
We applaud JCG for romancing its offering with harder-to-find items such as Selima sunglasses, Globe-Trotter luggage, and Timex watches. These items are particularly appealing because they are categories not already offered at J. Crew.
But we are scratching our heads as to why JCG thinks they need to offer men’s Levi’s 501 denim (launched February 2010). Today, higher-volume JCG stores offer Levi’s 501 denim in 5 “exclusive” washes that store associates admit are “close to washes found elsewhere.”
More astonishing is that J. Crew slapped a $98 price-tag on Levi’s styles that are priced $48 – $58 for similar styles/washes at department stores. Even Urban Outfitters (URBN – $31.71), a chain that is infamous for its mark-ups doesn’t charge more than $54 for its assortment of Levi’s 501 denim.
We guess that’s what Mr. Drexler means by its “unique approach!”
What’s likely going on here is that J. Crew needs to charge $98 to prevent cannibalization of its own private label $98 men’s denim offering. But we are certain that the J. Crew customer is too savvy to pay 2X for a ubiquitous brand such as Levi’s.
J. Crew expanded its branded partnership business to include men’s Levi’s denim this month
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.