Jay Jays

Jay Jays is an Australian apparel chain store. It is owned and operated by the Just Group. It was founded in 1993 and has over 200 store locations across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

History

Jay Jays is an Australian apparel chain store that was founded in 1993.^[1] It is currently owned and operated by the Just Group. The Just Group also acquires other chains in Australia, including Just Jeans, Jacquie, Peter Alexander, Portmans, Dotti and Smiggle.^[2] It is considered a big-name brand;^[3] the chain has over 200 stores located in Australia, New Zealand, and most recently South Africa.^[1] The chain has many locations within Westfield shopping centers and is one of the group's leading brands.^[4]

Style

Jay Jays clothing is generally casual; it consists of denim that is targeted at youths.^[5] According to Shweta Mehta of The Hindustan Times, Jay Jays' style of clothing is generally "TV show", "rock band", and "cartoon character-inspired".^[6] Rachel Olding of the Sydney Morning Herald described the store as a traditionally cheaper brand with "disposable fashions".^[7] Elizabeth Knight of the Sydney Morning Herald feels that Jay Jays, as well as the Just Group's other chains — Just Jeans, Portmans and Dotti — is a "near-commoditised" apparel brand. She noted that it is "almost impervious to discounting and fall into the do I really need category of brands".^[8]

Reception and Little Losers controversy

In 2006, the Jay Jays store located in Whyalla, South Australia won a Kimberley Award for best store performance in sales for South Australia.^[9] The sales for Jay Jays were considered satisfactory as of July 2008.^[10] According to an article published by news.com.au, Jay Jays experienced a "very tough December" (2009), although the government's economic stimulus generated a 3.1% increase in like-for-like sales.^[11] However, the Just Group, which experienced falling sales due to consumer sentiment and retail conditions in 2011, saw Jay Jays decline by 13.2%.^[5] The chain's performance has been less satisfactory in the New Zealand and South Africa market.^[12]

In 2008, Bob McCoskrie, the National Director of Family First New Zealand, criticized Jay Jays' "provocative" Little Losers clothing line aimed at influencing young teenagers.^[13] This subsequently led to the advocacy group calling for a national debate to have the line.^[14] The Managing Director of the Just Group responded to the criticism, saying: "The Little Losers' range of tee-shirts is not targeted at children – the range is only available in adult sizes and the advertising has been placed in magazines that are intended to be read by young adults".^[15] The tees in the line, which had a series of messages such as "Miss B**ch", "Miss Wasted" and "Miss Floozy" for girls, and "Mr Well-Hung", "Mr Pimp", "Mr A**hole" and "Mr Drunk" for boys,^[16] were later discontinued by Jay Jays.^[17][18]

References