Coach Wristwatch

The wristwatch is UNTESTED! The band is in tough shape and the wristwatch has scratches.

Coach is an American brand, which came in existence in 1941. It’s often been associated, and in rivalry with Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Tory Burch. However, what many people miss to mention is that Coach comes with a long history of hand crafting and mastering leather.

It was 1941 when the company came into existence as a family-owned small shop. It was initially called Manhattan Leather Bags, had 6 workers, and was focused on making wallets and billfolds by hand. In 1946, Miles Cahn and his wife Lillian joined the company and by 1961 officially bought it, making them the sole owners.

Miles and his wife Lillian also hired Bonnie Cashin, a sports wear pioneer, to design handbags. She worked at Coach until 1974 and had many design imputes that revolutionized the way Coach bags looked. It was her design that introduced side pockets to the bags and made them in brighter, more fun colors. She also created coin purses and other gimmicks that drew more customers towards the brand.

With the arrival of Richard Rose in the company in 1965, Coach saw further growth and recognition. He placed Coach across department stores all over United States. This not only gave Coach status, but made it a household name.

Fast forward to 1985, Miles and Lillian Cahn decided to take a step back and sold the company to Sara Lee, for a reported $30 million.

From that point, Lew Frankfort was named president and took many steps into expanding the customer reach of Coach. In an interview held by Lunch Break’s Tanya Rivero, hosting Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Kapner, she mentioned Lew Frankfort identified a niche price-point where the demand was far greater than the supply. It was then his idea to sell high quality goods, but with price-points that the average consumer would afford. And that’s how many of people came to know and love Coach.

Under Sara Lee’s Hanes Group umbrella, Coach has opened many stores in different locations. They also focused on having boutiques in many department stores. By 1986, the company had 12 stores and almost 50 boutiques in department stores across the country.

In 1996 Lew Frankfort was named CEO of the company and Reed Krakoff the lead designer. On June 1st, 2000, the company was officially named Coach, Inc, from previously Coach Leatherware.

Between the years 2000 and 2013, the company faced an identity struggle, juggling between retail sales and discount shops. Also, in this period the customer perception of the brand dramatically decreased and Coach no longer stood for high quality, glam, and aspiration.

Two big things changed the way Coach was perceived.

One was the introduction of the "C" print on canvas, by Reed Krakoff. In itself it is not a bad thing, as it gave the brand an easier recognition. However it also became a favorite for knock-offs and soon the market became flooded with them.

Second, in their thirst of opening more and more stores, Coach undermined the power of location at times. Their aim for increasing sales came at the cost of exclusivity. When a brand is present everywhere, there is a heavy stress on the supply chain to produce enough quantities of the goods to cover all locations. Whenever the over-supply did not sell, Coach was launching more and more sale campaigns, which in time decreased the brand value.

Lastly, the brand lost its aspirational status due to the above reasons and one more. You see, opening up in many locations can be good, as long as these are the right locations. Coach did not assess this very well and in the mid 2000's they were located in places like Malls, as well as outlets. With everything already on sale, the bags became suddenly affordable to everyone and soon were seen on every suburban mom’s shoulder as a day-to-day bag. As Molly Mulshine explained in her article in Observer, the bags were no longer something to save up for! They were just another bag, that everyone already had.

As Lew Frankfort once said, he wanted Coach to be somewhat affordable, but the quality was the key for the company. They started from handmade leather goods. Quality was their main concern, but with the sale of the company and with shareholders to please, Coach has seen itself drifting away from this in an attempt of increasing sales.

And yes, sales were still there. The quantity of the bags sold has increased, but with the heavy discounting, the revenue per bag has decreased. With less price paid per bag, the quality couldn’t have stayed the same and in turn suffered from this shift of the business model. At the end of the day, shareholders had to have a profit and this was the only way. At least for the short term…

Coach eventually started having a lot of competition, which the company wasn't really ready for. Brands like Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Tory Burch were taking the market share from Coach and it was not going unnoticed.

Changes happened at Coach as well, as Stuart Vevers joined the team in the fall of 2013. There were high hopes for his tenure, as he was previously with Loewe, Mulbery, and Calvin Klein. At the time of his joining, the media was flooded with news about Coach loosing shares value and how their handbag sales have dropped significantly. The only positive news was the increase by 35% in sales from China and the opening of a few more stores in the country.

Between 2013 and 2020, sales continued to drop for Coach, in spite of the company’s efforts to diversify the portfolio. They launched a shoe line as well as other accessories, such as watches and scarves.

In an attempt of catching up with their competitors that had clothing lines as well, Coach launched its own high-end line called "1941". The launch happened in early 2016 and it featured expensive clothing, with tags from $2000 and above. They knew the Coach consumer did not have the budget for it, but they were targeting a different group of clients all-together. This new client was supposed to make Coach aspirational again and make consumers want to save up for a Coach bag once again.

Sales for women’s handbags have continuously dropped in-spite of the company’s efforts otherwise. We've seen however a growth in the Men’s category as well as Women’s accessories. Basically, every other product category had seen a growth, except the handbags.

In 2021, Coach and the parent company Tapestry finally saw an increase in sales. Not only that, but the forecasts for the rest of the year seemed very positive. In an article written by Phil Wahba on fortune.com, we learned that the average price consumers paid per bag rose by 25%. This helped the overall Tapestry parent company with making a profit in-spite of less bags sold due to the pandemic.

The changes in the company are many, but the shift away from discount sales has paid off. Coach has returned to the original quality for its’ products and we can see this in the trendy new designs they launch, such as the Tabby and Pillow Tabby shoulder handbags which have been very raved about. More so, with the new design, they captured the demographic that has more disposable income to spend on more than one handbag.

The appointing of Jennifer Lopez as the new face of the brand in 2019 has also been a good thing for the brand.

As of 2019, Coach has 986 stores worldwide.

In 2020, Coach again rebranded. Like many brands during the COVID-19 pandemic, Coach began focusing on its digital platform.

In 2021, Coach celebrated its 80th anniversary.

In general, all items may or may not have been damaged by water, smoke, mold, insects, mishandling, animal chewing, cracks, nicks, dings, dents, rips, marks, stains, divots, waviness, creases, scratches, rust, etc.

***Please look at the attached photos for size and condition. Photos are part of the description representing the condition report and can be used for authentication prior to the sale date. We urge bidder's to view all attached photos in detail. All items are sold "AS IS". Thank you for your interest and good luck bidding.

Notes: Please inspect all photos carefully before bidding. Thank you for your interest and good luck bidding.

18%

Mike Marsullo | (860) 997-3332 | fil14fy@gmail.com

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Torrington, CT 06790

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Saturday, 8/13, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

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