J.Crew, Which Has 10 Stores In VA And DC, Files For Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON, DC — J.Crew’s parent company said Monday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid flagging sales due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The parent company for J.Crew, the preppy clothing retailer with 10 stores in the District of Columbia and northern Virginia, said Monday it has filed for bankruptcy protection — the first major retailer to do so since the coronavirus pandemic began and caused businesses to close their doors.

J.Crew Group, which also operates the Madewell brand of clothing, estimated in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that it had assets and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion

In the DC region, J.Crew has stores at:

• 950 F Street NW, Washington, DC
• The Men's Shop, 1618 14th Street NW, Washington, DC
• Georgetown, 3262 M Street NW, Washington, DC
• Pentagon City, 1100 S Hayes Street #F10B, Arlington
• Chevy Chase, 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Space 116/216, Washington, DC
• Tysons Galleria, 1742G International Drive, McLean, VA
• Tysons Galleria Men's Shop, 1753G International Drive, McLean, VA
• Fair Oaks Mall, 11831 L Fair Oaks Shopping Center, Space # H 115 Fairfax, VA
• South of Market, 11953 Market Street, Reston, VA
• Short Pump, 11800 Broad Street, Space #2144, Richmond, VA

Even before boutiques and malls were shutdown by the coronavirus outbreak, traditional brick-and-mortar establishments saw a nosedive in revenue and popularity with the emergence of e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Walmart.

J.Crew’s lenders have agreed to convert $1.65 billion of its debt into equity, and the company has secured commitments for financing $400 million from its existing lenders, Anchorage Capital Group LLC, GSO Capital Partners and Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, among others.

The company’s Madewell denim brand, which had been slated to begin public trading before the pandemic hit, is expected to remain part of the business. The company had hoped to use the proceeds of the initial public offering to pay down its debt.

J.Crew was in trouble before the seismic shifts in the retail industry brought on by the coronavirus business closings.

TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners acquired the company for $3 billion in 2011. Retail veteran Mickey Drexler led it for more than a decade, and it became a valued brand, spurred partially by former first lady Michelle Obama, who famously sported J.Crew slim skirts and cardigans in her eight years in the White House.

Drexler severed his ties with the retailer in January 2019.

J.Crew will continue to operate online during the bankruptcy proceedings, according to a statement on the J.Crew Group website.

The company said it hopes to reopen the bricks-and-mortar stores once coronavirus restrictions are lifted and it is safe to do so.

Last year, J.Crew sales were $2.5 billion, a 2 percent increase from 2018.

The company began in 1983 as a catalog retailer, then opened its first store in New York City in 1989. As of Feb. 1, there were 193 J.Crew stores, 172 J.Crew factory outlets and 132 Madewell locations.

Other chains that are closing some of their Virginia stores include the Gap, Pier 1 Imports, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kmart, Motherhood Maternity, Dressbarn and more.

Two Gap clothing stores in Virginia closed in January 2020. The store closure was part of a plan announced in February 2019 to close 230 stores across the country. The two stores that closed were located at 1534 Rio Road E. in Charlottesville and 21100 Dulles Town Circle in Dulles, the company said.

Gap joins other chains that are closing some of their Virginia stores.

Papyrus, a stationery retailer, is closing all of its stores across the country, according to Fortune. The chain operates three Washington, D.C., stores and six Virginia stores, including shops in McLean, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax.

In January, Pier 1 said it would likely close half of its stores to "better align its business with the current operating environment."

A dozen Virginia stores, including one each in Manassas, Falls Church, Arlington and Alexandria, were removed from the chain's website. The company confirmed on social media the stores removed from the website were slated for closure. Patch has posted the full list of the 12 Pier 1 stores expected to close.

Lord & Taylor said in November it is closing two stores in Northern Virginia, its Tysons Corner Center store and its Dulles Town Center store in Sterling, the Washington Business Journal reported. The Lord & Taylor store at Tysons laid off 117 employees, effective Jan. 31. The store at Dulles Town Center laid off 79 employees when it closed Christmas Eve, according to the report.
The women's clothing store Avenue is closing more than 200 locations across the country, including three stores in Virginia. Read more.

In November, craft supply store A.C. Moore announced it was closing all of its stores. The arts and crafts supplier operates at least 15 stores in Virginia. Under the transition, as many as 40 A.C. Moore stores will become Michaels. The locations to become Michaels have not yet been named. Read more.

Related:

• NoVA, DC Store Closings By Chain Retailers In 2019