Riding back to my room after class one evening I found myself surprised. Through the corner of my eye I noticed a large pink truck tucked away by the student alumni center. I decided to take a closer look and to my surprise I found myself at a J.Crew pop up shop! They had so many cute outfits and jewelry for sale. They also provided free tote bags that could be tie dyed, free drink koozies(each containing a 20% off coupon) and a photobooth featuring a double bike.
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
After making my way around I decided to interview one of the ladies running the shop, Heather, to figure out why they were here in the first place.
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Me: “Nice to meet you Heather, so this (event) is for J.Crew, and you guys are coming to college campuses?”
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Heather: “Yeah, so we did a tour called ‘With a Twist’ this fall and they (J.Crew) went all along the East coast. It started in New York and went down to South Carolina and came back up and College Park is actually the last stop on their tour. We just wanted to come out and kinda share a little bit of our Fall collection with the students but also give away some free swag. We have some totes, some koozies, some 20% off coupons, and you can tie dye a free tote or buy a t-shirt and tie dye that. I did both today because I love tie dying. And we just wanted to come out and connect with our local students. We (referring to a colleague) actually both work at local stores. I’m the store director at the J.Crew in Chevy Chase and She’s the store director at the J.Crew in Harbor East in Baltimore. Yeah!”
Me: “Cool, so, can you tell us a little bit about the new line?”
Heather: “Sure, so one of the main things that we’re focusing on this fall is our everyday cashmere. So, usually when you go into a store cashmere is $200+ dollars right? It’s not really accessible to most people. Our cashmere actually starts at $98, which is a great price point um, and we’re really focusing on like really special colors right? So this isn’t just green, its spicy jade, you know what I mean? So, it’s just like really fun vibrant colors for fall, yeah it’s really just a focus on color this season. And just like great, accessible price points for things that are usually a luxury item.”
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Me: “So, I also see you guys have a lot of fun jewelry, do you guys make it all yourself or does another factory do it?”
Heather: “Yeah, so J. Crew does all it’s own designs, we have a design team that works in New York City. And this fall it’s a lot of tortoises, a lot of bronze/gold, really kind of simple shapes like hearts, big hoops, a lot of acetate tortoise. And it just pairs really nice, it’s like a simple neutral color that pairs really nice up against these vibrant colors for fall.”
Me: “Yeah it is really nice, like with the tortoiseshell cuz we are the terrapins here.”
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Heather: “Yes! Absolutely! Love it!”
Me: “Oh, so for anyone who may have missed this event because you guys are kind of tucked away here today, are there any other events you guys are trying to do across college campuses, or do you guys do this every year?”
Heather: “So this isn’t something that we do every year, hopefully we will be doing it again next year. We don’t know yet, but the closest J.Crew to you guys is gonna be the one at the Montgomery mall and then there’s also one at the Columbia mall and there’s mine at Friendship heights. Right off the Friendship Heights station. We always do a student discount of 15%.”
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Me: “That’s really nice to know.”
Heather: “Yeah! So were doing 20% today because it’s a special event but students can always come in to our store and mention that they’re a student, show their ID and get 15% off. Great way to build that interview wardrobe for internships.”
Me: “Definitely.”
Heather: “Or you know, come spring time come shop swim for spring break. So yeah we’re always there for you guys with that great student discount.”
Me: “Okay, well thank you so much, is there anything else that you wanna add?”
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
Heather: “Well, you know J.Crew is also a great place to work, so if any, you know, if any students are looking for a part time job, we’re super flexible with you guy’s schedule. And, yeah, it’s a really fun place to work.”
Me: “Alright, well thank you so much!”:
Heather: “Yeah, thank you!”
Getting to speak with Heather about all that J.Crew had to offer really inspired me to look further into those deals she mentioned. I also adored many of the activities they offered such as tie-dying and the addition of a specialized claw machine.
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
After the interview I walked around their store. The sweaters were super cute, soft and the colors were extremely trendy. It seemed as though all their shades matched the current stylings I had been seeing on influencers. I know that I will be grabbing a cashmere sweater for my wardrobe!
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)
The jewelry was also incredibly cute and affordable. The golden heart hoops were the perfect addition to any ensemble and will be high on my christmas list. They also had many smaller accessories, such as hair ties and clips that would be essential for daily fits.
(photo by Kimi Pawlowski)