Printemps 2015
TABLE OF CONTENT EDITORS NOTE ....................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 4 Who is J. Crew
J. Crew Customer
STORE LANDSCAPE .............................. 8 Landscape Location Size
STORE DESIGN ...................................... 9 Concept Theme Design Furnishing
MARKETING .......................................... 13 Managing the store
Attracting Customers Retaining Customers
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Cher Paris, With this issue, we celebrate the inauguration of our new addition to our network of stores to the capital of fashion, Paris. The J.Crew Men’s store has been our dream project for a while now and it is finally coming to life. This initial issue of J. Crew, we unveil the store concept, space and services. The surface of the stores and the assortment of products differ accordingly the J. Crew store network. What makes J. Crew Men’s store unique is the segmentation of the market and our strategy stand out from the competitions. Our shop experience reveals our brand principles; a brand that breathes style over fashion, a magical mix of classic and trendy. We leave the best part for you to enjoy in the store. LIU Zhedong KIM Daniel MAZLOUM Cirine PIERRO Gabriele RAMADAN Dalia
Editors in Chief
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J. CREW FROM THE TOP
INTRODUING J. CREW & THEIR SUCCESS STORY The creative force behind the popular American brand, J. Crew, was not an overnight success. This multi-billion dollar retailer faced a complicated buyout and dozens of controversies regarding social issues before it gained its popularity. A rising trend in classic, casual, Americana helped the brand establish where they are today. J. Crew’s success lies in its mass expansions and the cult of specific consumers who yearn for a classic design with a modern twist. J. Crew is an American multi-brand specialty retailer founded in 1983. Under the direction of the CEO Millard “Mickey” Drexler, J. Crew’s revenue reached $2.2 Billion in 2013 with over 440 stores in the United States and in Canada. Starting in 2011, J. Crew started expanding into the international market. With store openings in Canada, Hong Kong, and London, the retailer has been unstoppable and has gained numerous international clienteles.
“The retailer has been unstoppable ”
J. Crew’s core business relies mostly on women, but the growing popularity in menswear trend has introduced J. Crew to a new cult of followers. J. Crew created men-only shops throughout the United States, and the store has been admired and accepted by fashion-conscious men.
J. Crew men represent geek-chic trend setters who are modern and timeless. The men’s shop also captures its target customer by incorporating a mix of traditional and classic style with contemporary décor. J. Crew’s target male customer is between the ages of 25 to 40, with an income level of middle to upper middle. They are trendy and fashion-conscious, looking for contemporary, casual wear. J. Crew’s style range, from a young college graduate to a professional working father, gives its customers a creative selection. In 2013, J. Crew opened its first store in London; simultaneously being their first store in Europe. With its rising success, they opened two additional stores, one of which is specific to menswear. With the business booming, J. Crew believes it is time to open its first men’s shop in Paris. HOMME @ JCREW.COM 06
TOUCHDOWN PARIS DISCOVER J. CREW’S NEW THE RETAIL
J. Crew’s men store in Paris, compared to the worldwide network of stores, will be more of a concept store than a regular retail space; it will offer a holistic experience of leisure and shopping. It will be strategically located in Le Marais, nearby the newly opened (Spring 2015) J. Crew Woman store on 12 Rue Malher 75004, Paris. The men store will consist of two levels that are connected by a spiral stair case. The second floor is intentionally smaller by 20 square meters with a rail that overlooks the first level of the store, making the area more spacious. The ground floor will be 150 meter square and the mezzanine will be 130 meter square. This will give comfortable room for bespoke clientele. HOMME @ JCREW.COM 08
J. CREW MEN’S CONCEPT STORE
STORE DESIGN
The J. Crew men’s concept store will consist of a 1960s element of vintage atmosphere with modern décors placed throughout the store. The design consists of tradition and class with neo-contemporary designs. In order to captivate the consumers with unique concepts, J. Crew will offer a small barbershop, a café, and a space for suits and tailored merchandise. The theme of the store will be characterised by a combination of modern flair and timeless taste, where a contemporary man can be surrounded by a classic yet fresh style. The atmosphere will be reminiscent of a vintage flea market shop with an exceptional taste in classic menswear, a place where the real nature of a brand like J. Crew is perfectly represented by the combination of vintage elements. The store will have a classic design that reflects a masculine attitude combined with a certain grade of casualty. The style will be be influenced by a preppy attitude where classic and traditional are mixed with casual and sports elements. The store will be divided in areas based on the different J. Crew lines; each area will be surrounded by the appropriate atmosphere. The areas include: casualmenswear, formal menswear, footwear and bags / accessories. An additional area, located next to in-store barbershop, will be dedicated to lifestyle where grooming products as well as books and magazines are gonna be displayed. HOMME @ JCREW.COM 09
The in-store barbershop will be located in the back of the store. The barbershop concept gives the customers the idea of masculinity and a sense of space just for men. J. Crew will sell grooming and skincare products from other brands, like Aesop and Harry’s. Aesop is an Australian skin care product company whose unique packaging has become a favorite to many men. Harry’s is a company located in New York City that provides shaving products. They offer affordable German engineered razor blades with quality craftsmanship and simple design, an ideal match for the J. Crew customers.
Mezzaine Floor Store Plan
Ground Floor Store Plan
Aesop Skin Care Products
Harry’s Shaving Products
The in-store café will be located in the center of the store. The café bar will consist of stools for customers to sit and enjoy while they shop. Since J. Crew is an American company, they will operate with an American-based coffee company, Intelligentsia Coffee, to supply coffee in Paris. Intelligentsia Coffee monitors and buys fair-trade coffee beans from Central America, South America, and East Africa. Since 2006, Intelligentsia has been distributing its coffee beans to many locals and national independent coffee shops. Their rich taste and quality coffee will bring a unique selling point to the J. Crew concept store.
“Wood plays a key role �
In order to reflect the mood and the concept of the store the choice of furnishing will play a crucial role. Starting from the ground, a cherry wood parquet will provide a classic and warm touch to the entire ambient. Covering parts of the floor will be rustic Persian rugs, characterized by red and blue tones.
Wood will play a key role in the entire shop thanks to the antique displays and the vintage furniture (Leather arm chair, antique bronze lamps). The vintage element will be central in the choice of furnishing that will involve brass stone details and raw wood finish details. HOMME @ JCREW.COM 11
To give to the entire ambient a modern touch some design elements will be added, like the “Osaka Sofa” by BoConcept or the “Royalty Candle” by Tom Dixon. Ornaments will not be secondary for an additional touch to entire ambience; very classic elements like French porcelain toile vase will be side by side with more modern vintage radio and TV (mainly from the 60’s). Additional attention will be reserved to the instore barbershop area where the walls will be covered with the typical white tiles in order to recreate the mood of a vintage bathroom. The main part of the vintage furniture will be purchased in the quarter of Saint Germain, along Carré Rive Gauche, a very well known street where shops of furniture vintage and antique furnishing target perfectly the style required by the store.
Barbershop Area
WITHIN J.CREW WALLS MANAGING OUR NEW STORE
The store will be managed by a minimum of eight permanent merchandisers (including waiters and barbers) and one general manager that will overlook the whole operation from inventory, stock, money, customer relations and compliance. The store manager will be recruited from within the worldwide company, but staff will be of French and Chinese nationalities to ensure multiple languages are available for greater customer satisfaction. For a duration of three months, a J. Crew employee with minimum of three years will be around to instigate the integration of J. Crew values and culture.
Existing and newly recruited staff are required to attend an intensive two week training program prior the store opening. Apart from the initial training, quarterly sessions will also take place. We will hire a specialized local company familiar with new market dynamics to give the basic customer relations training. We will also have an internal team that educates staff on the J. Crew brand philosophy, collection, and competition. The team will be under continuous assessment throughout the year by mystery shoppers.
The inventory and stock projections will be based on our London stores performance over the past few years. We will more or less follow a similar model for quantities but cater the collection to the local French consumer and tourists.
ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS J. CREW STORE OPENING CAMPAIGN
#JCREWHOMME
Attracting and retaining customers takes into account short term and long term activities, respectively, needed to build a loyal customer base. To instigate the new J. Crew store, a campaign consisting of on and offline advertising as well as an event will be executed. The objective of the campaign is to attract initial customers by drawing attention to the store’s location and publicising the brand’s style.
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The offline event is a march that will act as a ‘street runway,’ allowing J. Crew to showcase both their style and collection range, as well as the store’s location.
The event will take place during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, when fashion bloggers and celebrities have a probability of witnessing our event and hence creating online buzz. These online influencers are essential for our campaign as many of them are followed by J. Crew’s potential customers.
The march will begin at Jardin Tuliries, where many fashion week attendees reside and fashion shows take place. It will guide all those who choose to join down Rue de Rivoli all the way to the store’s opening location in Le Marais.
Jardin Tuliries
The march will be made up of 100 men dressed head to toe in J. Crew. These men will be ‘regular’ people instead of models in order to make the brand approachable rather than intimidating. The men’s ages and sizes will range widely in order to represent the brand’s customer target scope and show off their different lines. In order to give onlookers a point of identification, a portion of the men will be holding signs with different messages, such as the brand’s name, the store’s address, or the campaign hashtag. Swim Deep Band
Joining the men in the march will be the Indie band Swim Deep. This band was selected as it mirrors the image of J. Crew. The purpose of having a band is not only to make the walk more entertaining, but also to draw in those who cannot see the march happening but hear it from afar.
J. Crew Le Marais
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In order to generate buzz online, we will be inviting two popular menswear bloggers, Adam Gallghar and teethreef.com, to take part in the march and live tweet/instagram as they walk. This way, any fans they have in Paris will be updated on what is happening. The bloggers will use the hashtag #JCrewHomme to create a trending topic on social platforms. The use of ‘homme’ implies both that the store is just for menswear and that it is located in France. #JCrewHomme
On the same day as the march, print ads will be published in the following magazines: GQ, L’official, L’optimum, L’monde, and Vanity Fair France. The images of the print ads will mirror the march and contain the hashtag and store location. The print ads will be composed of the same ‘regular’ type men posing with the same signs. Images in the campaign can vary in containing different combinations of men in terms of age and style and number.
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Bottom: Blogger Adam Gallghar in J. Crew. Left: Mock up J. Crew ad in GQ France
These ads will also be printed as posters and posted in specific alleyways around Paris, especially in areas surrounding Le Marais. The purpose of this is to continue spreading news about the store even after the offline event is over.
RETAINING CUSTOMERS STAYING LOYAL AT J. CREW
PART OF THE FAMILY
After customers have been attracted to the store, it is vital that we retain them. To start this process, we must begin building a customer database for the Paris mens store. We will do this by kindly asking a customer after a purchase if they desire a catalogue of the brand. If they do, the cashier will then record their name and address in order to send the catalogue once the new season coming.
Based on the customer management system, the store will send out the new catalogue to customer who shopped in store. Based on purchase frequency, J. Crew will send small gift accessories to those customers who shop in store very often. These gifts should be best packaged and accompanied by a handwritten card from the sales person who was serving this customer in store. HOMME @ JCREW.COM 19
In addition to retaining customer data, the store will also make itself visually attractive on a monthly basis to retain its customers. The store will change both window displays and interior displays every month to create a different atmosphere and provide fresh experience to the customers who come back for shopping. Changing window displays will also help the store attract people who normally pass by, and create a willingness to enter the store. The display changing will follow different concepts or themes every month that share and reflect the knowledge and heritage of the brand.
“The store
will make itselfattractive... visually monthly�
Such themes can include fabrics, suits, tie, shoes, indigo and so on. For instance, if the theme of this month is leather shoes, then all J. Crew leather shoes should be displayed everywhere in store. Additionally, descriptions and props of how, where, and with what materials the shoes are made should also be present. These displays should be well designed in order to make it interesting to people and also maintain the atmosphere in store.
Below: Limited edition New Balance for J.Crew sneakers help retain customers
Another way to retain customers is the service. Employees should be able to provide service and advice to the consumer by having the ability to recognize every item from store. If a consumer walked in the store with our products, even the bartender should be able to recognize the item and make a kind compliment to the consumer. Finally, exclusivity will also allow us to retain customers. Apart from the store concept of having a barber shop and a coffee bar, the J. Crew store will create a limited edition line for Paris to keep people coming back to this specific store. The brand can corporate with multiple brands or concept stores in Paris to design and produce the limited edition item. The store will advertise for those items through multiple fashion bloggers in order to notice and attract the customer come back to store and purchase.
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References: jcrew.com Word Count: 2,479