A Visit With J.Jill CEO Claire Spofford

Women’s specialty chain J.Jill was on bankruptcy watch four years ago, but CEO Claire Spofford has been adamant about staving off another go-around on her watch.

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Spofford knows the brand well. She rejoined the company in February 2021, following a 2020 restructuring under different leadership, and was previously the firm’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. With a renewed focus on the customer, the brand has also leaned into more full-priced selling.

In addition to implementing a quarterly dividend program last month, J.Jill completed a capital raise that included its largest shareholder TowerBrook Capital partners, a move that netted the company $31 million in proceeds for general corporate expenses.

The company in May completed a voluntary debt repayment of $58 million, reducing its term loan to $108 million, according to credit ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service Inc. Moody’s upgraded the firm’s corporate family rating following the paydown. The ratings firm said that while the brand has high business risk due to the “intensely competitive and fashion-sensitive women’s apparel sector,” it expects J.Jill to maintain low levels of debt and said the outlook “remains stable.”

Sourcing Journal caught up with Spofford to discuss current initiatives and plans for the future.

Sourcing Journal: You’ve been able to achieve what many have not: transitioning customers to buy at full price. Tell me about your initiatives to drive full-price selling—how did the inflationary backdrop influence your decisions? How has that impacted or shifted your promotional cadence? What about inventory levels and margins?

Claire Spofford: Our story comes back to managing our business with discipline to establish a solid foundation for growth.

Our ability to demonstrate strength in full-price selling and penetration, navigating inflation and its effect on the consumer, and managing inventory levels all point to our north-star objective around discipline. We have remained absolutely committed to and focused on full-price selling for the past three years and have taken several deliberate actions to get to where we are today.

We invested in optimizing our product assortment to align with our customers’ preferences and lifestyles , and leaned into what we know our customers expect and love from us: high-quality offerings that have a fabric-first approach featuring natural fibers, such as linen and cotton. We also introduced more color, print, and novelty options to create excitement and differentiation in our collections—all of which has resonated with her.

Additionally, creating assortments that she gravitates to toward goes part and parcel with inventory management, delivering on full-price selling, and managing, as best we can, inflationary pressures. We watch inflation carefully and have a deep understanding of who our customer is, what she wants, and what she is feeling, and have established an operating model that is dynamic and responsive to her. This has allowed us to be as narrow as possible in our promotionals to drive strong margins and manage inventory levels.

SJ: How have you refined the product assortment over the past three years to match with consumer needs and wants?

CS: I believe our customer insights and connection with her are a powerful mix that has allowed us to see some clear opportunities within our assortment and brand positioning within the premium casual category.

Our customer has a strong desire for quality, versatility, and comfort in her wardrobe, and we have further refined our assortment to emphasize those qualities to drive differentiation in our products and through our sub-brands.

Capsule collections are also a key part of our assortment strategy. They allow us to test new offerings within our sub-brands to determine her response and our go-forward approach. Two examples of this include our “Wearever Works” capsule collection at the end of last year, which highlighted versatile pieces that customers could wear to work and carry her throughout her day, and the “Pure Jill Elements” collection.

Lastly, color, color, color. I have said time and again that we aren’t a brand (nor do our customers want us to be) that chases fast-fashion trends. We watch and make deliberate decisions about which trends our customers are excited about, and updated color palettes is absolutely one of them.

SJ: J.Jill seems to have always had size inclusivity in its offering yet, to your point, you embarked on a “Welcome Everybody” campaign in 2022 to showcase, in part, the size range in stores. How have consumers responded? And how has that helped with customer acquisition?

CS: Where we are today has continued to build from “Welcome Everybody.” While the campaign focused on telling her that yes, we have always been size inclusive , we also created a fully-inclusive shopping experience both online and in store. That brought price parity within our full range of sizes because it’s the right thing to do.

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She has not only responded positively, but we have also leaned further into demonstrating how we are the brand that sees her totality and creates assortments for the full spectrum of who she is, meets her where she wants to shop, and offers her the quality and versatility she desires in her wardrobe.

The initiative has also driven new customer growth within a cohort that is younger than our average customer—but consistent with our target demographic—and we are more excited than ever about how our marketing has evolved to showcase models and influencers across a range of sizes, body types, and lifestyles.

The recent launch of our “One Wardrobe. No Limits.” campaign builds on “Welcome Everybody.” We have embarked on a comprehensive brand transformation in recent years fueled in large part by intimate conversations with our customers and deep customer insights. That work has culminated into how our brand is showing up today. We are known for championing inclusivity and sounding a rallying cry around celebrating the totality of women wherever they are in their lives.

SJ: In the Q1 conference call, you noted a fabric-first approach and using that to differentiate products and sub-brands. How are you using the approach to change-up the look and feel of the product lines? Are you using new fabrics to accomplish this and, if so, what is the make-up of the textiles used?

Much of the look and feel of our products is defined by the use of natural fibers, such as linen and cotton, and we have seen strength in our Pima and Supima knit franchises in seasonal colors.

Capsule collections, such as Pure Jill Elements and Wearever Works, have been used to push the boundaries of sub-brands and test new price points, fabrications, and trends.

SJ: And where are most of the brand’s assortment mix being produced, given that a decision was made to ship early to offset Red Sea disruptions? Was that for the Mother’s Day floor sets?

CS: A large portion of our production comes from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and we recently made the decision to air freight product in because one of our key sales periods is the time leading up to, and during, Mother’s Day, and through the summer.

We have a team, which I believe is best-in-class, that monitors the situation in real time, allowing us to make immediate decisions to avoid over or under inventorying or incurring unnecessary costs. Our team also has great relationships with our vendors, which is not only a testament to them, but also enables us to be agile when managing the situation.

SJ: You mentioned in the Q1 call that the brand is at a “pivotal inflection point” and is leaning into strategic investments to fuel growth. Can you elaborate on what kinds of investments and why?

CS: There is a lot more to say about all of these points, but I would sum it up in three key takeaways:

1. We are continuing to leverage our strong cash generation to invest in and grow the business, including but not limited to, investing in omni-channel enhancements, like the POS and OMS projects, and selectively opening new stores, paying down debt, and exploring opportunities to drive further total shareholder return.

2. We are excited to bring more awareness to our brand through investments in marketing, including the “One Wardrobe. No Limits.” campaign and its consumer activation called “You Choose”—a trade-in experience that encourages women to trade in gently worn clothing from their closets for J.Jill fabrics and styles that are better suited to their dynamic lifestyles.

3. And last but not least, we are excited about delivering strong financial results from our ongoing execution of our operating model through careful planning, disciplined inventory management, and a focus on full-price selling.

SJ: As you look to the future, what keeps you up at night?

CS: There is a lot going on in the world economically and geopolitically. I think about making time for myself and being as physically active as possible. Candidly, there is a lot that keeps me up in my life. But what also keeps me up at night as the CEO of J. Jill is creating greater awareness of our brand and offerings because I know that once she experiences us, she will love us.

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