J. Crew's Job Cuts
The First Lady may outfit herself and her children in J. Crew (both Sasha and Malia Obama wore J. Crew coats to the inauguration), but all that free publicity hasn't spared the purveyor of preppy casual wear from being hit by the economy. The retailer has announced that it is eliminating 95 jobs in its New York offices and in distribution centers. The cuts represent around a 10% staff reduction. The company has also suspended matching 401k contributions and any merit-based pay raises. The LA Times reports that J. Crew hoping to reduce its annual budget by $40 million. The cuts are inline with what has been seen at a variety of other retailers including the major department stores like Macy's, Saks and Neiman Marcus which are all wrestling with a decrease in consumer spending. Companies don't know when the economy will improve and shoppers will be back out in the streets so much of this is a preemptive measure to make sure that they are running as lean as is possible.
As Nick 
