Uniqlo Owners May Buy J.Crew

J. Crew may be getting a new look. The retailer is reportedly in talks with Fast Retailing Co., the Japanese company that owns Uniqlo, Theory, Helmut Lang, and other brands, to sell the compan for as much as $5 billion. It’s unclear whether Fast Retailing is willing to pay that much for the classic Americana brand, which has more than 400 stores throughout the U.S., U.K., and Canada. J. Crew’s private-equity firm owners have also been working with Goldman Sachs on potentially taking the clothier public, but no progress has been made on an IPO so far.