Friday, March 16, 2007

Getting Time to write an adoring story about you is the best revenge

Time profiles Mickey Drexler and, sure enough, it only takes them three paragraphs to stick it to the guy's old employer: "That turnaround is especially sweet for Drexler, who arrived at J. Crew with a down-and-out story of his own, having weathered a two-year slump and ouster at Gap, the company he built into a $14 billion icon over 19 years, most spent as president and ceo. Today, while Gap flails--in January it got rid of Paul Pressler, the CEO brought in to replace Drexler--J. Crew...is one of few companies in the overdeveloped specialty-apparel arena with the potential for real growth."

C'mon. Can't anyone think of a kind word for Gap? Not even for their competitively priced tees? Or is that part of the problem too? Drexler "has rebranded J. Crew as a store that...also dares to inch up the food chain of craftsmanship (think cashmere sweaters), avoiding the race to the bottom by refusing to woo price-conscious consumers and sell ever cheaper clothes made with ever cheaper labor--a trend driven by discounters like Wal-Mart and Kohl's that has rippled to specialty shops."

Oh. Well, then. Guess this isn't a good time to mention those Old Navy expansion plans.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um... (thinking to himself)

The gap has nice celebrities in their spots?

Irene Done said...

The Fisher family appreciates your positivity!