Why COACH? Please share your story!

minissha

minissha

Member
Jan 3, 2013
166
0
#1
This question may have been queried a zillion times. Make that a zillion plus one. :smile:


Please share your "Coach" story! :reading:
Whether you are a newbie (like me), an intermediate, or a Coach connoisseur, what are the main aspects or elements that propel you to purchase Coach? The question may be a bit vague because of varied life experiences, however, there is almost always a delineating factor for the continuum of the journey. There is no experience that is mundane...everyone's journey is unique and wonderful to hear. Please share your Coach story...

This is my story:
My journey began when Coach Factory held a sale on eBay in December 2012. I absolutely loved the bags! I purchased a Coach Hamptons tote years ago from a thrift store. It is still going strong! I knew Coach as a "brand," but I was unaware of its ardent fan following until I joined TPB. As I researched the Coach forums, I was entranced by the discussions, knowledge, reveals, etc.. :biggrin: I was dazed by the acronyms but too bashful to ask what they meant. It took some time to figure it out (and I still haven't mastered it all). :cray:

I recently visited a Coach Factory outlet store for the first time. With the cognition gained from the forums, I purchased many Coach goodies. What can I say except that I have fallen hook, line and sinker for Coach! :tispy:

On a side note: I also love Coach because of the monogram because the alphabet matches my last name. So very corny! Perhaps, it's the reason why I have not ventured towards M.Kors (MK) yet. LOL!
 
Last edited:
#2
I've loved Coach bags since I was a teen-ager in the '80's. Some of the "rich girls" at my high school carried Coach purses, and they appealed to me way more than the LV or Gucci bags most of the popular girls carried. I loved the way the British Tan looked...and how soft yet strong the leather was. I LOVED how they smelled. Of course, being a lower-middle class kid, we couldn't afford that kind of luxury, so I didn't ever get one, and I was fine with it. I found a purse like it at Contempo Casuals that looked enough like them and it was a great substitute. Fast forward to 2004: I'm married with 4 kids and on a Christmas shopping trip to Prime Outlets with the fam. I see a store that says "Coach". I thought..."Hmm..same brand I loved?" Sure enough...it was! The ( now ex ) hub told me I could pick out a bag. I chose a British Tan (classic styled ) Willis. I chose that because it reminded me of those Coach bags I so coveted as a teen. I still have her and use her every once in a while.
 
#3
I always knew about Coach, saw the "C bags" everywhere, but heard a lot of talk about fakes and such. I thought a FP Coach would be out of my price range and stuck to Fossil bags for many years. A good friend's husband went to work for a pharmaceutical company in 2004 and as part of their benefits, they had a catalog of some sort where they could buy high end business bags (and maybe other regular bags) at a reduced price. My friend had her husband buy a multifunction bag which she used as a diaper bag for years, then as her work bag after awhile. I always admired the bag from the beginning especially after she bought a matching wallet. Then she added a purse and I coveted it! We visited them for dinner a couple years later, and I was admiring the bags and telling my husband how much I loved them. For my birthday that year (2006) he bought me my very first Coach items. One was a Legacy Signature Stripe wristlet, and the other was the mahogany signature Zoe (med?). I loved the style so much!! I did exchange it for the large Zoe which fit my stuff better, and I carried it for years until I discovered the Coach outlet in 2010. It's been Coach for me since then. I don't have a lot of bags and I have bought and resold some items over the years, but I find that TPF is turning me into someone who NEEDS EVERY BAG! :smile:
 
#4
I always had cheap bags because I didn't grow up with much money then got used to having cheap things and kept buying them even when I had a good paying job LOL

Then I had kids and went right to diaper bags. Cheap ones of course! But I got tired of my cheap diaper bags that didn't work and decided to splurge on a JuJuBe. I FINALLY understood how nice it was to have something of good quality!

Once my youngest got to around 18 months I really wanted to treat myself to a nice purse for the first time in my life. Since we had a Coach outlet it was a no-brainer for me. My first Coach purse was a FP delete (that I picked up by luck because I didn't know the difference). Once I got my first taste of Coach that was it. I've dabbled in LV and I do love them, but Coach is still my favorite because of the customer service. I know that if I ever have a problem with a bag they will help me. Unlike LV. :rolleyes:
 
#5
I got my first Coach as a bday gift in the summer of 2010. It was a signature glam tote and though I should have kept it for sentimental reasons, I did not because I rarely carried it. Glam totes are great, but are too big for me for everyday. I do have a glam in my collection now, but its leather which I prefer greatly over the siggy fabric bags. So anyway, over the past 2.5 years I bought, sold, returned countless bags and accessories by Coach as well as many other brands. Then, at the end of last summer I discovered the updated legacy line. I found myself lusting after many of the bright colors even though I'm someone who normally sticks to neutrals. I had recently built up a collection of non-Coach contemporary designer bags, but began selling those in the fall to buy more from legacy. I was just looking at the Coach collection thread earlier today and in early Dec. I had six bags. Now I have a dozen. At least 5 of them haven't even been carried yet, lol. I really need to stop buying long enough to enjoy the pretties that have recently joined my Coach family :rolleyes:
 
#6
i really didn't get into purses until maybe around 2009? tano, treesje, botkier, and a ton of minkoff and hh. never owned a single coach item until maybe 2010/2011 when i decided to buy my baby brother his first decent, "nice" leather wallet from coach and i walked out with just a large wristlet and id skinny. that did it and i fell in love with the fact that: (1) i could see the bags in person (unlike the other brands until at least they started hitting my nearby nordstrom's), (2) SAs were sooo sweet and even when i was buying one , eensy fob, i got great cs and attention :P (3) the fact that i could just drive over to the nearest FP if i ever had a problem with a purse to get it mailed to jax for repairs!

with #3, i had a nightmare of a situation with linea pelle that ended maybe 2-3 months before i got into coach. basically , i had to mail the bag (strap stitching crapped out under a month to a babied bag and luna boston said that they'd never ever seen/heard this happening) to poor luna boston (AWESOME store, miss them) which in turn had to mail it to LP in california, and then the bag was sent to LP's china factory for repairs. this repeated maybe 2-3 times and i finally got a replacement/new bag nearly 8 months later from when i first initiated the repair job with luna. ugh. so a 2 month (was that the average?) estimated wait time for a coach repair just sounded like heaven compared to what i'd been through!

i bought way too many bags with other brands in the past that i still need to sell off, but with coach, somehow ive managed to be more thoughtful in my purchases, so i can appreciate each purchase i make and i love the brand so very much. i will pay $$$ for jewelry (had a t&co shopping habit for a short time and platinum/gold lasts longer than a bag!) but never the same for a purse (e.g., luxury brands like lv, etc) and i love coach as for me, it's an affordable little luxury, and beautiful!
 
#8
Well my story is going to be different I think but it speaks to the power of kindness.

I ordered a bag over the phone from my fav SA last Saturday of the PCE. My elderly dog was feeling low and I did not want to leave her. On Wednesday I had to put my Lucy to sleep. The box was there when I came home and I tossed it aside. I opened it on Friday and I just did not like the color. My SA emails me all the time to see if I liked it, etc. She was leaving early on Friday so she wouldn't be there but they would take care of me if I would bring it in. I needed to get out of the house. I see her everywhere.

When I got there they all knew about my Lucy. They told me how sorry they were. They hugged me and were empathetic not sympathetic with me. Shared stories about their own dogs. They did their best to cheer me up and be silly. They did lift my spirits for a while and I will never forget it.

I don't know who else could have done more.
 
#10
RebeccaJ said:
Well my story is going to be different I think but it speaks to the power of kindness.

I ordered a bag over the phone from my fav SA last Saturday of the PCE. My elderly dog was feeling low and I did not want to leave her. On Wednesday I had to put my Lucy to sleep. The box was there when I came home and I tossed it aside. I opened it on Friday and I just did not like the color. My SA emails me all the time to see if I liked it, etc. She was leaving early on Friday so she wouldn't be there but they would take care of me if I would bring it in. I needed to get out of the house. I see her everywhere.

When I got there they all knew about my Lucy. They told me how sorry they were. They hugged me and were empathetic not sympathetic with me. Shared stories about their own dogs. They did their best to cheer me up and be silly. They did lift my spirits for a while and I will never forget it.

I don't know who else could have done more.
Click to expand...

I am so sorry about your Lucy, your story made me tear up. I know the pain of having to put down a pet so my heart goes out to you...

Wendy
 
#11
I've loved Coach since the early 90's. I always admired the bags from afar, as my mom never owned one, but one of my Aunt's had a Willis in black and I wanted one SOOO bad! Fast forward to 2000, I discovered a Coach outlet near me and purchased my very first bag, a red leather hobo. I was so proud of that bag! I was also a leather lover from the start. I had a few signature pieces here and there, but the leather is what hooked me.

The reason I stay? Because I truly love their designs. I see other designers, and I feel like they are missing something- if only this buckle was there, or that strap needs to be longer, etc. Coach seems to have something for everyone, and they are all so damn pretty! They've never disappointed me, and their bags hold up so well! So I am a tried and true fan, and even when I stray, I've always come back. The other designer bags don't keep my interest as long, and always get sold off.
 
#12
It's just part of what I've loved since I was a kid.
Yes, a kid!

In 1984 I was 12 and saved up my babysitting $ to buy my first Coach bag for $78.
Bought it at Higbees, now Dillard's...no Coach store was in my area...yet.
Seemed like a MAJOR purchase at the time. Most adults I knew weren't even carrying Coach!

This is the bag I purchased...in Tabac, I believe:
(NMA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Coa...US_CSA_WH_Handbags&hash=item3cce446226&_uhb=1

It's been a love affair from first look, touch and whiff of the leather, lol.

I've been fairly faithful to Coach for all the many years.
Of course I've had other brands, but love for them is always fleeting.
I really have never been too too tempted to spend $$$ on "better" designer brands either!
 
#13
RebeccaJ said:
Well my story is going to be different I think but it speaks to the power of kindness.

I ordered a bag over the phone from my fav SA last Saturday of the PCE. My elderly dog was feeling low and I did not want to leave her. On Wednesday I had to put my Lucy to sleep...
Click to expand...

RebeccaJ: I teared up reading about the loss of your sweet dog Lucy. My heart goes out to you...I am so sorry. Please know that your TPF friends and family support you. Virtual hugs!
 
#14
CoachMaven said:
The reason I stay? Because I truly love their designs. I see other designers, and I feel like they are missing something- if only this buckle was there, or that strap needs to be longer, etc. Coach seems to have something for everyone, and they are all so damn pretty!...
Click to expand...

You have a point here - Coach does seem to have something for everyone.
 
Last edited:
#15
90046 said:
It's just part of what I've loved since I was a kid.
Yes, a kid!

In 1984 I was 12 and saved up my babysitting $ to buy my first Coach bag for $78.
Bought it at Higbees, now Dillard's...no Coach store was in my area...yet.
Seemed like a MAJOR purchase at the time. Most adults I knew weren't even carrying Coach!

This is the bag I purchased...in Tabac, I believe:
(NMA)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Coach-Red-Leather-Shoulder-Bag-Crossbody-Bag-/261158625830?pt=US_CSA_WH_Handbags&hash=item3cce446226&_uhb=1

It's been a love affair from first look, touch and whiff of the leather, lol.

I've been fairly faithful to Coach for all the many years.
Of course I've had other brands, but love for them is always fleeting.
I really have never been too too tempted to spend $$$ on "better" designer brands either!
Click to expand...

I love this story!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back