-----Original
Message-----
From: Carissa Thomas
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 9:08 AM
To: DAVID
Subject: Manufacturers
Hello,
J. Crew has been my favorite line of clothing for many years.Recently,
however I have made the choice to be more careful about what I purchase. Before I can
continue buying items from J. Crew I need to research the company thoroughly. J. Crew can
help me get through this process more quickly I think! The information I need is:
1. A complete list of the suppliers/countries from which J. Crew purchases its garments,
as well as the sweatshop monitoring agency used to monitor the condition of each.
2. Origin of merino wool, silk and leather items
used in the garments.
3. Percentage of recycled paper used in the
catalog.
4. Charities to which J. Crew donates.
5. What the company does with slightly damaged
clothing when it is returned by a customer.
6. A list of lawsuits the company has been involved in (if any).
7. List of the fleets/airlines used to transport J. Crew goods.
8. List of modelling agencies from which the J.
Crew models come.
9. Name(s) of person(s)/group(s)/company(ies) in
charge of advertising.
Thank You for your time!
:) Carissa Thomas
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 11:28:06 -0600
Dear Carissa:
I'm sorry, but we don't provide information beyond what is available on our website in the
'all about us' section. Also, for third-party information regarding our sourcing
record & that of others in our industry, I would suggest you check www.sweatshopwatch.org.
Again, I apologize that we cannot provide this level of detail for you.
Sincerely,
David
Director, Customer Experience
J.Crew
From: Carissa Thomas
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 9:51 AM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Exactly why is this information unavailable to
consumers?
no response
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 12:07 PM
To:"David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear David,
Perhaps you did not receive my second e-mail inquiry. Hotmail has a tendency
to act up at times. I was just wondering exactly why J. Crew does not make the sort of
information I was seeking available to their customers.
Sincerely,
Carissa Thomas
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 14:44:25 -0600
Hi Carissa:
Yes, I didn't get this. We don't devote resources towards compiling
distributable answers to these questions simply because there isn't much demand for them
to be answered by individual customers.
Every once in a while, some of these questions come up from organizations or the media; in
those cases our PR department will do research based on the credentials of the
organization and send answers.
Thank you for your inquiry.
Dave
Director, Customer Experience
J.Crew
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 8:41 PM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear David,
Ok, so if I wanted this sort of information I would have to get in contact with the PR
department, and they could give me what they have gathered for other organizations? How
would I go about doing that?
Thanks!
Carissa
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 09:35:34 -0500
Hi Carissa:
Probably not, no. Again, I would recommend that you research news articles and
websites pertaining to our industry to get answers to the questions you are seeking.
Per some of the other questions (modeling agencies, fleet transportation) we don't
give out the information.
We are a leader in our industry in providing a safe working environment in the
manufacturing facilities that we contract and with ensuring that all of our garments are
made in an ethical manner relating to animal rights.
Rather than us passing you information, it should be a lot more credible to you coming
from third parties that have the time and resources to accurately research the questions.
I truly appreciate you taking the time to care about these issues - for
every email like yours we get two hundred that just ask us to lower our prices without any
regard for the impact of doing so.
Thanks
Dave
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 6:08 PM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear David,
I have already done extensive research in the manner you suggested, but cannot find
answers to any of the questions I asked. This is why I contacted J. Crew directly. There
is no way I can get in contact with Public Relations?
Sincerely,
Carissa
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 21:26:02 -0500
Hi Carissa:
Actually, I forwarded your note to PR and to legal and they have reviewed it. I can
confirm that we can't provide the information you have requested. I'm sorry we can't meet
your needs with this and I wish you best of luck in researching apparel companies to find
one that you feel comfortable in buying from. I apologize in advance if that company
isn't us but I hope you'll recognize our good faith efforts here.
Sincerely,
Dave
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 9:36 PM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear Dave,
Could I perhaps get a specific reason why none of this information can
be given to me? J. Crew has been my favorite brand for years, (a look in my closet will
proove it! :) and I would really like to continue purchasing from the company. If the PR
or legal department could give me legitimate reasons for declining to answer my inqiries
perhaps I could continue to do so with a clear conscience.
Thanks!
Carissa
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 07:37:23 -0500
Hi Carissa:
The legitimate reason is that we are a privately held company and choose not to make
certain information available to customers or to the media. There is a risk of
information being misconstrued or misused that forces us to due a large amount of due
diligence when we release information of the type you are requesting. We're a small
company and have to allocate resources efficiently to stay in business and we simply can't
devote the time needed on your specific request.
Again, some of the questions you have asked have been answered by us in the media or are
available in the public domain. I would ask you to rely on those sources for the
answers you need.
Personally, I think that the type of questions you are asking shows that you are a smart
and caring individual and your persistence shows that you're dedicated to your causes.
I would suggest that you should consider joining an organization (ie., a labor
rights or animal rights advocacy group) that could guide you and give you support in your
activities to improve our society, assuming that this is your intention.
Thank you again for your inquiries
Dave
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 10:17 AM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear Dave,
First I'd like to thank you for your efforts in helping me with my search! I have
just a few more questions and comments :) . . . I have been under the impression that J.
Crew Group is held in part by Emily Cinader Woods, but mostly by Texas Pacific Group. Is
this incorrect? What constitutes a private holding? (Perhaps I'm not familiar enough with
the term)
It seems a bit impossible that facts, when replicated in exact form could be misused.
Perhaps the departments could comment or elaborate on this.
I must admit, the sentence about risk of misconstruing information disturbed me a bit.
Does the company not trust their facts to be read and interpreted by their customers and
the people in general? If not, who can they trust?
Sincerely,
Carissa
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 12:18:50 -0500
Hi Carissa:
We are not a publicly traded company (no listing on a stock market); we are fully owned by
TPG and Emily Woods. Here's some examples of misconstruing or misuse of info, it's
not an issue of trust:
* we send you the name of a supplier & it gets confused with another
supplier with similar name
* out of date info - you refer to the it 6 months from now, but it could be completely
different then and we don't have the resources to keep you updated
I hope this helps
Dave
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 2:12 PM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear Dave,
Ok I understand now, thanks for explaining the private/public element to me :) It
still seems though that what this comes down to is trust . . . not trusting that the
person to whom the info is given will be able to see or share the facts for what they are
(names, date of info etc.) I think that movements to be socially and environmentally
responsible are growing rapidly, and it would be wonderful if J. Crew could lead the
industry in supporting the movement through disclosure of information. I understand that
this would be a huge undertaking but I think that soon it will become a necessary
procedure for companies in order that they stay in business. J. Crew could get ahead of
the curve in this area!
Sincerely,
Carissa
From: "David"
To: "Carissa Thomas" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 1:53 PM
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Hi Carissa:
Thanks for the reply. We actually do disclose information and participate in many
efforts to be socially and environmentally responsible. We work with organizations
to do so when it can actually make a difference.
For example, if you check on www.sweatshopwatch.org,
you'll find that we were one of the first companies to sign the Saipan agreement that set
up a fund for independent monitoring of working conditions there. Or if you check
the www.peta.com, you'll see that we agreed to stop
using Indian and Chinese leather based on their concerns. The more you look, the
more I think that you'll find that we already are 'ahead of the curve.'
Thanks again, and good luck with your endeavors.
Dave
From: Carissa Thomas [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 1:56 PM
To: "David"
Subject: RE: Manufacturers
Dear David,
Yes, I've looked into the efforts J. Crew has made. I'm very
pleased
that they have ceased work in Burma, signed the Saipan agreement, don't purchase Indian or
Chinese leather, and use tagua nuts (a sustainable resource) in many of their buttons!
However, it is extremely disturbing to find that they are unwilling to share much
additional information about the company with their customers, who want to know, and who
should be informed.
It's very difficult to see non-disclosure as a sign of a good company.
Complete disclosure of information like the type I requested would make J. Crew a real
leader in the retail industry. Thank you for your time and efforts in this correspondence,
I greatly appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Carissa Thomas
no more messages exchanged
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The
last name and e-mail address of the individual I was in contact with has been omitted from
all messages.
This is simply to protect the individual's privacy.
Poor guy, he didn't know what he was
getting into. He really was quite nice.
Here I received no response to my
message for several days, so I then tried again.
This (like everything else I said) is
true; my wardrobe is almost completely comprised of J. Crew garments.
It's very interesting to note how the
reasons for not disclosing info change as the discussion goes on.
First it was "no demand"
now it's "too high of a risk, and no time"
This still all seems to come down to
trust, but maybe it's just me.
You'll also find on PETA that
they use wool from mistreated Australian sheep. . . of course I wasn't told about that
here.
*grin*
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