In the past few years, the brand lost both its longtime design chief, Jenna Lyons, and famed retail executive Mickey Drexler. Those challenges have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic that has forced stores to shutter, throwing the retail industry into a state of disarray. The retailer operates 182 J. Crew retail stores, as well as 140 Madewell stores, the youthful brand it launched in 2016. J. Crew had hoped to spin off Madewell in an IPO that could have helped pay down its debt load, but faced pushback from creditors. J.