J. Crew's Responds to New York Times' Op-ed

J. Crew Group chairman and chief executive officer Millard "Mickey" Drexler quickly responded to Delia Ephron's Dec. 23rd op-ed piece in the New York Times. The piece criticized J. Crew for a botched online gift order (wrong products sent to the wrong person, no gift-wrapping, etc..) and claimed that the holiday online shopping has made the season of giving "as mundane and problematic as all our Web purchases, which in my family include paper towels and toilet paper."

Bemoaning "intimacy replaced by expedience," Ephron has resolved to never order Christmas presents online again.

Drexler's response, published Thursday, expressed, "that a customer complaint was elevated to an indictment of online retailing," which, he argued, "offers convenience, saves time, adds value and provides access to goods and services that might otherwise be difficult to obtain."

J. Crew has shipped more than a million packages worldwide since Thanksgiving, the ceo noted, and Ephron's experience, though unfortunate, "is hardly the norm."

"We certainly acknowledge that what is warranted in this situation is a sincere apology, but not a generalized defamation of an efficient and valuable way of shopping today," Drexler concluded.