Coach's New, Trendy Headquarters as Fashionable as Its Handbags
Coach (COH) now has some fancy new office space to go with the fresh look of its handbags and accessories.
The handbag maker became the first corporate tenant Tuesday to open its doors at mixed-use development property Hudson Yards on the west side of New York's Manhattan. Coach's new global headquarters occupies 700,000 square feet of space, and is decked out with a giant video wall behind the reception desk showing the brand's latest styles and floor to ceiling enclosed windows holding various colored handbags.
Other amenities include a product library that houses hundreds of iconic Coach styles, double-height conference rooms that peer down at the High Line, a design studio for Coach's craftsman, and a sizable terrace that overlooks Hudson River.
The space will house about 300 Coach employees.
"This is an important milestone for us," Coach CEO Victor Luis told TheStreet at the unveiling, adding, "It was important for us to also have this physical space to along with our brand transformation."
Coach's sexy new digs comes as Luis has begun to orchestrate a long-awaited turnaround for the company after enduring several years of plunging sales as U.S. women shunned bags with the Coach logo in favor of upstart accessories purveyors including Michael Kors (KORS) .
The reason for the rebirth could easily be detected in any Coach retail store -- ill-conceived logo bags that once overran shelves have been replaced by more fashionable designs that emphasize Coach's rich leather-making heritage.
Coach has taken the more fashion-forward look of its bags, a vibe steeped in its New York City roots, to the pages of key fashion magazines and online in an effort to reverse a stigma among women that it's simply not a cool brand.
Coach CEO Victor Luis (right) discusses company's new headquarters in New York City.
Coach reported fiscal third-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, of 44 cents a share compared to 36 cents a year earlier. Wall Street expected 41 cents a share. Net sales tallied $1.03 billion, up 11% year over year, and higher than the $1.02 billion consensus.
Same-store sales at Coach's more than 250 North American retail stores were unchanged from the prior year, representing the fourth consecutive sequential quarter of improvement. Store traffic continued to be soft as customers shifted to purchases online. However, when customers visited Coach's stores, they spent more than they did a year earlier.
The quarter benefited from the launch of Coach's new 1941 collection earlier in the year that commemorates the company's 75th anniversary, and a new limited-time Snoopy collection. The company marketed the more fashionable 1941 "Heritage" product line -- which is priced higher than most Coach offerings -- aggressively on social media and in print publications.
"If you went to one of our retail stores today, you would have a hard time finding a logo bag," said Luis in an interview with TheStreet in May. Luis, who took over as Coach's CEO in 2014 after leading the brand's successful expansion in Asia, continued, "Where we are seeing the most positive response, and one we are most excited about, is the most fashion-engaged consumers are an increasing number of our customer base -- and they are the opinion leaders."
Now Coach has an artsy new office that is sure to inspire any worker to keep on churning out those more fashionable leather bags.
