Another retailer closing stores: J. Crew feels the pain

J. Crew plans to close 39 stores in the coming months.

The high-end clothing company will close the stores by the end of January, according to CNN Money.

The company did not say which shops it plans to close. Fresno has the only J. Crew store in the central San Joaquin Valley; it is in Fig Garden Village.

Sales at stores in the J. Crew Group Inc. open at least a year – considered an important measure of a retailer’s health – fell 9 percent in the third quarter.

J. Crew is the latest in a long list of stores that are closing locations in the Valley due to slipping sales, including The Limited, Wet Seal, Bebe and Payless Shoesource.

J. Crew also owns Madewell, a store selling classics like jeans, sweaters and other clothing. A Madewell opened in Fig Garden last year.

Madewell stores appear healthy, with same-store sales increasing 13 percent in the third quarter. By contrast, same-store sales at just J. Crew stores fell 12 percent.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Another retailer closing stores: J. Crew feels the pain."