Mickey Drexler

“Can I have you attention, please? Can I have your attention, please? ” “Play to win, not to lose” “That’s life in America” These are random sayings that Mickey Drexler spouts out throughout the day at the J Crew headquarters. Some would say that Mickey Drexler is over barring and over the top business man, but that is far from true. He may be over barring and over the top, but he when it comes to business he knows what he is talking about. Mickey Drexler believes when have to run a business to win! And he is determined to win.

Mickey Drexler known as the Merchant Prince is the C. E. O and the man behind J Crews ever growing popularity and success. Drexler describes a merchant as “someone who figures out how to select, how to smell, how to identify, how to feel, how to time, how to buy, how to sell, and how to hopefully have two plus two equal six. We buy and sell goods. We buy low and sell higher—that’s what we all do to make a profit. But I consider a merchant someone who has a certain intuition and instinct, and—very important—knows how to run a business, knows the numbers. Does the merchandise speak to you numerically? There’s a rhythm.

You see goods as numbers. You see stores as numbers. And the numbers have to work out. ” (Paumgarten) Drexler is good at what he does because he is smart and knows business and is not afraid to take a risk. More importantly he has surrounded himself with a team that is fashion savvy and creative. With all of these elements combined equals success. Our text, Retail Management describes merchandise management as “the process by which a retailer attempts to offer the right quantity of the right merchandise in the right place at the right time and meet the company’s financial goals.

Buyers need to be in touch with and anticipate what customers will want to buy, but this ability to sense market trends is just one skill needed to manage merchandise inventory effectively. Perhaps an even more important skill is the ability to analyze sale data continually and make appropriate adjustments in prices and inventory level. ” (Levy, Weitz) Although Mickey Drexler’s thoughts on merchandising coincide with our texts description, Drexler is in a league of his own as a merchant. He has his hands involved in every aspect of the business.

Drexler is somewhat controlling and he wants to know what is going on in every part the buying process. When walking the store with his team he questions his them if something does not look right or if something is not selling. He wants to know why something looks a certain way, why is not selling, and what can they do to fix it. He drills his merchants with questions that makes them think about the products and what they are worth and if they will sell. He never wants to undervalue the customers that shop at J Crew.

He believes that customers are important and he always listens and responds to customers letters. Mickey Drexler is an Autocratic Leader – Strong, directive – followers have little input. Drexler has a clear vision of what he wants and expects his employees to have that same vision. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty and work until he gets the results that he wants. I believe that Mickey Drexler loves a challenge. Drexler has put the companies he has worked for on the map and has turned them into multi-million dollars companies.

He is successful because he is hands on and has a say every aspect of the business. Some may say that he dictator, but I think he knows what works for him and what will make a company succeed and take it to the top. He is hard worker and wants to succeed in everything that he does. His hard work and determination stems from his childhood and watching his father struggle and pretend to be something he is not. Drexler wants more out of life and does not want to struggle; he is determined not to be anything like his father.

I love J Crew as a company and I would love to work for them. Ideally I would love to work with J Crew’s President and Creative Director Jenna Lyons. As far as working for Mickey Drexler, I am sure most would not want to work for him, but I would love the opportunity to work for him. I believe he is a smart business man and I think it would be a great learning opportunity to watch him and see what his thinking and work process is. From this experience I would take the good and the bad and learn from it; so when I move up in my career I will know what to do and what not to do.