"We're very pleased," J. Crew CEO Millard Drexler stated in reviewing the fiscal year ending Feb. 3 for the company. Revenues of $1.15 billion and $808.5 million in store sales each equaled gains of 21% compared to FY 2005. Internet and catalog sales leapt 22% to $308.6 million even as the company accelerated expansion of its bricks-and-mortar empire. Five stores were shuttered in FY 2006 but 29 new ones came on line, among them two fresh retailing concepts, Crewcuts and Madewell.

"We are starting to evolve into a category of our own, and the exciting thing is that people are starting to recognize us for that," offered Drexler, whose company now operates 276 stores totaling 1.54 million-sf of space. Of those, 178 are retail shops and 51 are so-called factory outlets, creating a platform drastically different from the catalog-only approach employed during J. Crew's launch nearly a quarter century ago. The company anticipates expanding its net sf by 7% to 9% in the coming year, according to Drexler.

Same-store sales productivity was among the highlights of FY 2006 listed by Drexler, who marveled over sales per sf improving to $527 from $457 the previous year. Same-store sales only registered a 7% gain in the fourth quarter versus 13% for all of FY 2006, but Drexler stressed that the operating margin more than doubled to 10.2% in the fourth quarter.