Jumping for J. Crew

Today brought some long-awaited good news for British fans of J. Crew: I learned via the J. Crew Aficionada's blog that J. Crew is finally planning an expansion out of the US, including, most importantly, to the UK. Their news release says:

J.Crew is also considering stores in the U.K., with up to nine units in the next several years, though Drexler said getting the desired real estate without paying through-the-roof rents is difficult. “If there is a landlord in the U.K. willing to give us an extremely attractive lease in a very desirable location, we are ready to chat,” Drexler said, half-joking.

OK, so that's probably not going to happen very soon--there are some nice spots in Marylebone, which would make a great home for J. Crew, although Regent Street is probably more their style. More promising is the fact that they are planning to launch a site for UK online shopping in late August, which means within the next three weeks. Wow. This could mean my August shopping budget, which, thus far has only stretched to the pair of navy ballet pumps I finally found at Joules, could be stretched considerably. Some J. Crew clothes are sold via the UK Net-a-Porter but the selection is very limited and tends to include mainly the higher priced "collection" items.

Of course, I tend to go to the US about twice a year, which allows me to stock up on J. Crew goodies, and I've also used Bundlebox's "buy it for me and ship it to me" service to order from J. Crew's website but the shipping is usually quite expensive. Inevitably, the UK J. Crew prices will be pricier than in the US, although neither Banana Republic nor Anthropologie is dramatically more expensive here. The other good news is that I might be able to hit J. Crew's petite range (which, for many garments, are a better fit for me), which isn't usually stocked in their retail outlets.

I must have got into J. Crew at some point while I was at university. Before that, I preferred Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle. Since then, I've asked the J. Crew sales assistants whether they have any plans for expanding to England almost every time I've visited the US. They never seemed to have any concrete plans, but I'm definitely looking forward to the launch of their UK-based website. First on my wishlist might be this grey blazer or this skirt in pink or black. And yes, I am going to New York in September so perhaps I should wait until then...