J. Crew Plans Madison Ave. Store

Commenting on the plans to open the J. Crew Collection store on Madsion Avenue, Drexler said that the J. Crew Collection sales represent a small percentage of the company's business and, "We don't foresee wide distribution or many stores." However, Drexler commented, the J. Crew Collection "is an opportunity for us to cater more effectively to all of our customers, many of whom, in addition to buying J. Crew, are also designer customers."

Drexler also said that J. Crew is on track to open 37 new stores this year, consistent with the chain's long-term goal of 7% to 9% annual net growth in square footage in its stores and "tailoring our new stores to each individual market in terms of size and offering," according to Drexler. During the second quarter, J. Crew opened seven new stores and closed two for a net increase of five, ending the quarter with 238 locations. Its expansion plans call for adding a net of 12 new stores in the third quarter and 11 new locations in the fourth quarter. Along with building its store base, the chain has been working on increasing sales per sf. it increased store productivity during the second quarter to record sales of $550 per sf, versus $489 per sf in the comparable quarter last year.

The J. Crew quarterly financial results included a significant increase in earnings, which climbed to $20.6 million and 32 cents per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $2.8 million and eight cents per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2006. Revenues increased 13% to $304.7 million and the company's comparable store sales increased 6%, a figure that it calculated by realigning last year's calendar weeks to be consistent with the current year retail calendar weeks.