J. Crew plans an initial public offering that likely will occur in the second half of 2006, according to a report last week in Women's Wear Daily.
The news follows other recent reports that J. Crew plans a new retail concept and that, in general, its fortunes have apparently turned for the better since former Gap executive Millard S. Drexler joined the company as CEO two years ago.
Several analysts interviewed for the WWD article cited everything from the return of preppy fashions to the equity market's growing receptiveness to apparel retailers as spurring the move toward an IPO. J. Crew is majority owned by Texas Pacific Group, a private equity firm.
