J.Crew has arrived! Well, sort of.

News that J.Crew would join Gap as an american-based retailer with a storefront in HK was tantalizing. J.Crew has had a small presence in department store Lane Crawford, but the selection is very small. Leading up to J.Crew’s bricks and sticks arrival, free international shipping was offered on its website, but the HK prices for items themselves were higher than on the US site. I assumed the hike was to make up for the free shipping.

Well played, J.Crew. I like the mahjongg tiles.

I stopped in at the new J.Crew store a day after it opened; however I soon realized I would not be frequenting the new Hong Kong branch. There was only a small selection of t shirts and shorts, but prices were big – anywhere from 10 to 30% more than in the US. Of course, most of the relatively small shop is dedicated to J.Crew Collection, a selection of clothes made with extra J.Crewiness.  I like J.Crew (and will have an order waiting for me in the US) but not at such a markup.

Rare and Special, apparently.

I’ve read that the parent company is looking to start a chain with offerings closer to J.Crew Factory prices called J.Crew Mercantile (who remembers Gap Factory?), but I doubt we’d see that store here in HK, and I doubt I’d want to pay up for whatever they would charge in HK. What I don’t doubt is that plenty of Mainland retail tourists will be happy to pay J.Crew’s “rare and special” pricing.