J. Crew to expand DC to support international expansion

New York City -- J. Crew said Tuesday that it plans a $20 million expansion of its Lynchburg, Va., distribution center to facilitate the retailer’s goal of selling more clothes overseas.



According to a report in the Lynchburg newspaper News & Advance, J. Crew is slated to open its first store outside the tates and start shipping orders to Europe by the end of 2011. Those orders will be filled at J. Crew’s facility in Lynchburg.



“We plan to ship to all those countries, and eventually ship to the world, from this distribution center right here in Lynchburg,” J. Crew’s CFO Jim Scully said in a ceremony Monday in Lynchburg.



J. Crew has operated a DC in Lynchburg since 1986, and has expanded the original building twice, said Tony Brown, senior VP of global supply chain for the company. “In the last seven years alone, we have added over 500 jobs to the local Lynchburg community in our existing building,” Brown said.



The expansion will include a new 155,000-sq.-ft. building ready next year.



“In the next three to five years, we think we can double the size of the business again,” Scully said. International markets are a key part of the company’s growth strategy. Currently, J. Crew ships orders to the United States, Canada and Japan. At the end of 2011, it will start shipping to the United Kingdom and other European countries.



Also, J. Crew plans to open a retail store in Canada in the second half of this year.