Interesting article

[sunnysideup8283]

I used to work at a coach store for 2 years about 10 years ago. I consider that to be an great design time for coach. Signature was maybe little to over done but they still had some really great more luxurious/rare bags. Floor changes were exciting every month there would be something new. I would watch bags completely sell out company wide within days. But since that time 2 things happened that they said never would first in store discounting and second outlets. I live in Northern VA and they would always say no way they'd put an outlet within 50 miles of a major metro area. Now there are 3 outlet stores and while they've moved away from it for awhile they were having those 25% off events a lot. When they did those for the 1st we literally were given a list of our best customers and we'd hand write invitations to them and call them to invite them. If you didn't use the coupon then you'd be taken off the list and not get one again.

Someone else mentioned this but what's the point in buying something at the full price if it's going to show up at the outlet just weeks later. Or if you can get it macys with a coupon. It used to be if a bag wasn't selling well it would be transferred to a store that was selling it or "deleted" back to the dc, or to a far away outlet.

I had a lot of fun working there and it really taught me about designer, quality, and service. We all just really loved the bags and what we were selling. For many of us it was a part time job to help with our bag addictions. I think the atmosphere is different now the stores are never very busy anymore and there is that energy now that they "need" the sale. I still prefer the Coach experience over MK of the many stores in my area only 1 has associates that are friendly and not snobby.

Once you start discounting it's hard to come back from that. Even I'm guilty of deal hunting but for something's I know it doesn't exist so I accept that and I'm willing to pay full price.

It will be interesting to see if they can elevate the brand again.

 

[poopsie]

IMO they have damaged the brand beyond repair. I have a closet full of Coach, but I won't be buying anymore. In my mind I can't get past the fact that they are a dime a dozen, sort a speak, as every school girl and her mom are/were carrying a Coach. When a new Coach bag FINALLY came along that I felt excited enough to actually considering buying, the black Rhyder , I thought twice-three times. the reason I like that bag so well is it reminds me quite a bit of the Balanciaga City bag which I have always wanted but of course was way out of my price range at close to $2K. But the more I thought about it-since I would not be getting my usual PCE like I normally would until Coach stopped that, I refused to spend $495+tax on a Coach. Had I got the PCE I would have bought the Rhyder. Instead- I broke down and bought a pre-loved black Balenciaga in great shape for $980. Yep rather then pay $495 for a "common" Coach I dished out almost double for a real designer name bag that I rarely see anyone in my area carrying. So Coach has lost me with their market flood and now their no PCE for loyal customers. Oh and I also two months ago bought a pre-loved-like new condition LV Cherry Speedy for $650. So its not that I refuse to pay big bucks for a bag, I just now refuse to pay it for Coach.

The factory stores/outlets have ruined Coach. Look, if you want to sell huge volumes of bags via factory bags, then lower your pricing and sell huge volumes of factory/outlet bags and close your FP stores, and do not market yourself as a quasi luxury line, because in doing that you are not. Had they not went all crazy with factory/outlet stores and strictly maintained FP stores/boutiques they could have kept their quality name and clientele/loyal customers. But...they got greedy and it has come back to bite them in the azz. The same thing is going to happen to Michael Kors, they are now a dime a dozen.

ITA


I walked away from Coach several years ago and never looked back. The straw that broke my back was the Carly. Even people I knew who had never bought a bag from anywhere other than Target were carrying that bag. It was literally everywhere.
There are three Factory stores within 40 miles of me. I recall walking out of them with two shopping bags stuffed with deletes on many occasions. Then the deletes started getting boring. The quality was slipping. I still have one musty old MFF leather tote and the leather on it was better than the bags coming in from the full price store. After about a dozen trips to the Outlets where I left empty handed I knew it was over for me. I had already began moving to Prada so I sold all but two of my Coach bags. I am able to buy so many nice pre owned Prada for less than a Coach.
MK is the rage here as well. But it is all cyclical. Before Coach got real big here everyone was carrying the IT totes from Dooney, so MK will fade eventually and something else will take over.

 

[bluebellrose]

I love Coach but have lost interest lately. This has to do with the lack of FP discounts as well as the current selection. I was proud of Coach for following through with their "no deletes" because towards the end of 2014 it seemed that my outlet was MFF only and never had deletes. I went up there a few weeks ago and they had TONS of deletes. It just seems like they are too afraid to follow through with their plans. I would pay FP for their items if the likelihood of anyone being able to get it at an outlet or FOS was very slim. But for now I know better.

maybe they had a resurging of counterfiets? I see outlets and overproducing as a way of here we'll give you what you want at a lower price point. Just don't buy those fake bags.

 

[letstalkbags]

Agree, this (bolded) may be a bigger problem for Coach in the near future. Veveers is moving too far away from the traditional Coach leather/bags that we have always loved.
Example: Today there's a ton of the C.O.A.C.H. neon line on the FOS. They may be cute, but they just made too many, obviously that was poorly managed.
And why delete the Borough bags when people love them so much?
Just going by the dramatic drop in posts here on this Coach forum lately, many people are not interested in the newer bags. I've been reading this forum for several years now, and it's never been this quiet, it just seems that many people have moved on to other designers. I remember when it was hard to keep up with these threads, and they would move to the second and third pages within a day or two. Now when I come to read this forum, there are very few new threads.

SO true !

I agree. I've been on tpf for years and have also seen a dramatic drop in threads/posts here. Today I went to a boutique to return a Swagger as it was way too heavy and they had 2 style of bags in the store and this is a "swanky" mall. I remember going to the Coach store and having a challenging time picking just one bag because there were so many choices. I would love to go back to the days of the gathered Sophias, the patent Poppys and the excitement of so many new and colorful bags.....

THIS ^ I agree !

I do like some of Vevers designs, but I think he took Coach into a very different, edgy market in some cases. I agree with Whateve about moving the bags more quickly. That is just ridiculous given what the company is trying to achieve.

And I just got back from the outlet and I am a bit stunned. They have some of the exact dames styles as FP (Taxi tote in almost the same colors and some of the newer totes as well). I was just floored that except for some of the higher end bags, they are offering similar designs with lesser quality materials. They are even using the same color pallets!!!! And that right there speaks volumes. Vevers will not be able to successful rebrand Coach as a luxury brand when they cannot seem to learn their lesson and make the changes needed to be successful.

I do hope the company can survive because I love Coach, but I just don't get the poor retail strategies that the company continues to embrace!

Well said !

 

[coachmom2boys]

I agree with most, if not all, of the post on here. I have been buying Coach since the late 80's, and I loved them. But , I have not bought a FB Coach in the last 4 years. I am afraid. I am afraid it will be at the outlets in weeks, it will be discounted at Macy's or Nordies soon, or it simply is not worth paying the full price for at all. I get most of my bags cheaper on the Ebay now, that are either new and cheaper, or happily well used. My favorite line is Legacy, and I absolutely wish they would go back to that beautiful leather and lining. The bags are sad now to me, and the FB stores are even sadder- always empty and customer's ( like myself) checking the full price bags out so that I can buy them cheaper somewhere else or wait for an outlet "event." I am just frustrated with the whole Coach philosophy now-maybe because I am not sure what it is..

 

[Ireiki4u]

I told my husband the same thing, why would I pay full price when it will be discounted somewhere in a couple of weeks. My daughter and I used to frequent the outlets every time we were buying a gift, we went in the other day and walked out with nothing. They had the neon and it was so bright I didn't think my niece would even like it.
IMO, I think it was a mistake to lock customers out of the online sale. Sure limited them to 1 or 2 a month but at least let everyone shop. Its the principle with women, ban us from shopping we will spend elsewhere, try to get us back to buy FP items, not a chance!

 

[melissatrv]

I have essentially lost interest in Coach since Vevers took over and the new pricing kicked in. I have no problem paying $600 for a bag, depending on brand etc. But I am not used to paying this with Coach. I am used to paying between $358-$400 less PCE. Now I have my eye on the Swagger in Puce but the $495 price is too high. With the current event with 30% off the price is more reasonable but I still cannot get past how much the Swagger looks like Riley and those were practically given away at the outlet. So I am trying to justify the price in my head. Plus many spring bags usually make it to semi annual sale so I might hold off. But I did just get a tax refund so who knows...


With regards to Michael Kors, I have fallen for the Selma satchel and Sutton. These bags come in nice bright colors and the price is great event at full price. With dept store discount even better. As another said, I get more compliments on the MK bags than my Coach for some reason. And these bags fly off the shelves here, and it often means you have to jump on a color before it sells out. Belk, a southern dept store, similar to Macys has a large MK dept in their flagship store and are now doubling its size again after a recent MK expansion a couple months prior. Nevermind that their is an MK store around the corner in the same mall.


I also think some of the lower priced SV bags such as Taxi Totes look too much like MFF bags. Just my opinion


Here is a side by side of Riley and Swagger. Some differences yes but they really do look similar, surprised no one has mentioned it (that I can tell) but me

 

[whateve]

I have essentially lost interest in Coach since Vevers took over and the new pricing kicked in. I have no problem paying $600 for a bag, depending on brand etc. But I am not used to paying this with Coach. I am used to paying between $358-$400 less PCE. Now I have my eye on the Swagger in Puce but the $495 price is too high. With the current event with 30% off the price is more reasonable but I still cannot get past how much the Swagger looks like Riley and those were practically given away at the outlet. So I am trying to justify the price in my head. Plus many spring bags usually make it to semi annual sale so I might hold off. But I did just get a tax refund so who knows...


With regards to Michael Kors, I have fallen for the Selma satchel and Sutton. These bags come in nice bright colors and the price is great event at full price. With dept store discount even better. As another said, I get more compliments on the MK bags than my Coach for some reason. And these bags fly off the shelves here, and it often means you have to jump on a color before it sells out. Belk, a southern dept store, similar to Macys has a large MK dept in their flagship store and are now doubling its size again after a recent MK expansion a couple months prior. Nevermind that their is an MK store around the corner in the same mall.


I also think some of the lower priced SV bags such as Taxi Totes look too much like MFF bags. Just my opinion


Here is a side by side of Riley and Swagger. Some differences yes but they really do look similar, surprised no one has mentioned it (that I can tell) but me

I'm not happy with the price increase either, but not because I won't spend that on Coach, but because I don't see the extra value in the new styles. If you compare this to a gathered Sophia, for example, which sold for $500, down to $375 with PCE, I don't see why this costs more.

I'm not crazy about totes. They are ubiquitous, so in order for me to buy Coach over another brand, there has to be something special about it.

I love the blues they have out now. My love for the colors might get me to buy something now.

What I didn't like about Riley was the way the zipper part pulled up, rather than staying folded down like in the stock photo. Swagger is more east-west, which looks better to me. It also has handles that fold down.

 

[Jesssh]

Swagger and Riley are sooooo different in quality IMO. I didn't look twice at the Riley when it was in the store. And I was following Phillip Lim Pashli, which both remind me of.

The design is similar, but the execution was way different to me.

 

[bluebellrose]

ITA


I walked away from Coach several years ago and never looked back. The straw that broke my back was the Carly. Even people I knew who had never bought a bag from anywhere other than Target were carrying that bag. It was literally everywhere.
There are three Factory stores within 40 miles of me. I recall walking out of them with two shopping bags stuffed with deletes on many occasions. Then the deletes started getting boring. The quality was slipping. I still have one musty old MFF leather tote and the leather on it was better than the bags coming in from the full price store. After about a dozen trips to the Outlets where I left empty handed I knew it was over for me. I had already began moving to Prada so I sold all but two of my Coach bags. I am able to buy so many nice pre owned Prada for less than a Coach.
MK is the rage here as well. But it is all cyclical. Before Coach got real big here everyone was carrying the IT totes from Dooney, so MK will fade eventually and something else will take over.

I think it may have to do that people discovered coach and started going crazy for them. Hey i never owned a coach before and the first lux thing I ventured into was coach. Didn't even go to guess.


Not happy with the price increase either. For the price they want i can get something similar at roots. Went with coach because i liked their colors and style.

I went with coach because I searched high and low and only coach offered me the style i liked. I think coach whether it likes it or not have turned into the it bag. Even all those new immgrants see coach as the it thing due to their super high prices back home.. Also they can attempt to go exclusive like prada, gucci and lv but I see those everywhere too! I see them more often that I see coach strangely enough.

Instead of worrying about them not being exclusive enough. Coach should embrace their new found popularity. Stick to what made them famous. Quality at an affordable entry price.

 

[Nymeria1]

Swagger and Riley are sooooo different in quality IMO. I didn't look twice at the Riley when it was in the store. And I was following Phillip Lim Pashli, which both remind me of.

The design is similar, but the execution was way different to me.

I agree. The Swagger and Riley are totally different bags in looks and quality. The Swagger is a very striking, classic bag which will never go out of style. The Riley doesn't give that impression.