J Brand to Open First Stand-alone Stores
J Brand, the premium denim brand, is set to open it's first stand-alone retail stores in Los Angeles and New York in the coming year. This plan comes eight months after Japan's Fast Retailing, which also owns Uniqlo, Theory and Helmut Lang, bought a large stake in the denim brand. The Los Angeles outpost will open next summer with the New York store opening before the end of 2014. "Profitability is very important to the equation," said Jeff Rudes, J Brand's chief executive officer, of the stores. "We're about profits. We're a very profitable company. Our partners at Fast Retailing are very profitable."He also noted that the Los Angeles address for first store isn't on a trendy street. "It's a little bit off the beaten path," he said. "We're around very cool brands that have profitable stores. We don't believe you have to be on a cool street like Melrose Place to create an image and make money."
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