Facebook/J.Crew Factory
J.Crew is focusing on its Factory collection.
- J.Crew is reportedly shutting down its low-cost Mercantile collection less than three months after it launched on Amazon.
- In a memo sent to employees and leaked to The Wall Street Journal, J.Crew said that it is winding down the brand to focus on J.Crew Factory, which is essentially the same collection run from its outlet stores.
- The decision to end Mercantile comes just two weeks after J.Crew's former CEO Jim Brett stepped down from the company.
J.Crew is reportedly shutting down its low-cost Mercantile collection just under three months after it launched on Amazon.
In a memo sent to employees and leaked to The Wall Street Journal, J.Crew said that it is winding down Mercantile to focus on J.Crew Factory, which essentially sells the same items but from its chain of outlet stores.
Mercantile, which was launched in 2015 by longtime CEO Mickey Drexler, aimed to bring these deals closer to the customer by opening standalone stores closer to residential areas, rather than in faraway outlet malls.
In the memo, the company said it would be phasing out this sub-brand, along with the newer label Nevereven, to create "greater clarity for customers," The Journal reported.
According to The Journal, Mercantile will be phased out in the spring of 2019.
J.Crew did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. It did not confirm whether it would be closing its 42 Mercantile stores or whether those stores would now operate as Factory locations.
The decision to cut Mercantile comes just two weeks after J.Crew's former CEO Jim Brett stepped down from the company. Brett had been leading the charge in J.Crew's turnaround efforts after several years of flagging sales under Drexler and longtime creative director, Jenna Lyons.
Read more: J.Crew is the latest retailer to start selling on Amazon after saying it wouldn't
Brett lowered prices, added plus-sizes, and announced that he would be expanding the Mercantile collection to make J.Crew more accessible. Most recently the company announced that it would begin selling these items on Amazon.
Brett's decisions reportedly didn't sit well with the board, especially chairman Drexler, who famously said the company would never sell on Amazon.
In a statement to the press two weeks ago, Brett hinted that a possible clash with the board was behind his departure.
"The Board and I were unable to bridge our beliefs on how to continue to evolve all aspects of the Company," he said.
Sources familiar with the matter told The Journal that Drexler took issue with Brett's decision to grow this low-cost line, as he worried that it would cheapen the brand.
