Coach, Inc.
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : COH S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Fashion, accessories |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Founder | Lillian and Miles Cahn |
| Headquarters |
10 Hudson Yards New York, NY 10001 United States |
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Number of locations
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1,014 (2014) |
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Key people
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Jide Zeitlin (Chairman of the Board) Victor Luis (CEO) Stuart Vevers (Executive Creative Director) Andrea Resnick (interim CFO) |
| Products | Women's and men's bags, women's and men's accessories, women's and men's apparel, watches, footwear, jewelry, eyewear, and fragrance |
| Revenue |
 $ 4.24 billion (2016) |
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| Total assets |
$4.6 billion (2016) |
| Total equity |
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Number of employees
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approx. 17,200 (2014) |
| Website | Coach.com |
US$ 1.2516 billion (2014) Coach, Inc. is an multinational luxury fashion company based in New York City. The company is known for accessories and gifts for women and men, including handbags, men's bags, women's and men's small leather goods, footwear, fragrance, jewelry, outerwear, ready-to-wear, scarves, sunwear, travel accessories, and watches.
Coach was founded in 1941, as a family-run workshop in a loft on 34th Street in Manhattan, with six leatherworkers who made wallets and billfolds by hand.
In 1946, Miles Cahn and his wife Lillian joined the company. Miles and Lillian Cahn were owners of a leather handbag manufacturing business, and were knowledgeable about leatherworks and business.
By 1950, Cahn had taken over the business. During the early years, Cahn noticed the distinctive properties and qualities of the leather used to make baseball gloves. With wear and use, the leather in a glove became softer and suppler. Attempting to mimic this process, Cahn created a way of processing the leather to make it stronger, softer, and more flexible. Since the leather absorbed dye very well, this process also created a richer, deeper color in the leather. Soon after Cahn developed this new process, Lillian Cahn suggested to Miles that the company supplement the factory's men's accessories business by adding women's leather handbags. The "sturdy cowhide bags were an immediate hit."
Miles and Lillian Cahn bought the company through a leveraged buyout in 1961.
In 1961, Cahn hired Bonnie Cashin, a sportswear pioneer, to design handbags for Coach. Cashin "revolutionized the product's design," working as creative head for Coach from 1962 through 1974.
Cashin instituted the inclusion of side pockets, coin purses, and brighter colors (as opposed to the usual hues of browns and tans) in the products. Cashin also designed matching shoes, pens, key fobs, and eyewear, and added hardware to both her clothes and accessories–particularly the silver toggle that became the Coach hallmark–declaring that she had been inspired by a memory of quickly fastening the top on her convertible sports car.
In 1979, Lewis Frankfort joined the company as vice-president of business development. During this time, Coach was making $6 million in sales and products were being distributed through the domestic wholesale channel, primarily in the northeastern United States. He was mentored by the then Executive VP of Sales Richard Rose. Richard joined Coach in 1965, and he is credited with making Coach a household name after putting the product in department stores across the United States and abroad. He retired from his position in the company in 1995.
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Wikipedia