Coach, Inc. a leading marketer of modern classic American accessories, today announced that Coach Japan, Inc. (CJI) will be opening its seventh Coach flagship store in Japan and the first located in the city of Nagoya. The Coach store will be located on Ohtsu-Dori, the most prestigious and fashionable street within the Sakae area, one of Nagoya's busiest shopping districts, and is expected to open in the spring of 2005.
Ian Bickley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coach Japan, Inc. said, “We are extremely excited about our flagship location in Nagoya, which is expected to be one of the highest volume Coach locations in Japan and will represent our fourth flagship location outside of the Tokyo area, following locations we will have opened in Sapporo, Osaka and Sendai during the last six months. In addition, it is the first original Coach building in the world.”
“Our sales and market share gains in Japan have been dramatic, as our business has grown rapidly during the last few years. Clearly, Japanese consumers have embraced Coach's accessible luxury proposition – aspirational, stylish, well-made product, at an affordable price, available in image enhancing locations, wherever our consumer chooses to shop,” Mr. Bickley added.
The 7,800 square foot store (approximately 740 square meters) on four floors is being designed by the Coach Architecture Group in collaboration with Eight Inc. and will be the first free-standing building, occupied entirely by Coach, anywhere in the world. The material palette will reflect Coach's signature style with a honed limestone facade, mirror-polished stainless steel details and bleached walnut fixtures. Sited on a highly visible corner in the Sakae district of Nagoya, the building will stand over 60 feet tall and feature a soaring 36 foot high entry space. Suspended above the primary selling floors will be an entirely glass-enclosed shopping area. These unique spaces will be visible from the street through the four glazed apertures that project from the south and west facades.
Lew Frankfort, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coach, Inc., said, “We are delighted with the new Nagoya flagship, which, in its original Coach building, is certain to become a shopping landmark. Accelerating our flagship openings – notably outside the Tokyo area – is a key part of our strategy to grow our market share in Japan, along with expanding highly productive shop-in-shops and continuing to focus on driving productivity through consistent product flow and distinctive newness. Nagoya in particular is a market where the Coach brand is underdeveloped and therefore represents significant potential.”
“Our growing brand strength and rapidly increasing market share reinforce our view that we're still in the early stages of development in this extremely important market,” Mr. Frankfort concluded.
Coach, with headquarters in New York, is a leading American marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men, including handbags, women's and men's small leathergoods, business cases, weekend and travel accessories, footwear, watches, outerwear, sunwear, and related accessories. Coach is sold worldwide through Coach stores, select department stores and specialty stores, through the Coach catalog in the U.S. by calling 1-800-223-8647 and through Coach's website at www.coach.com. Coach's shares are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH.
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “are positioned to,” “continue,” “project,” “guidance,” “forecast,” “anticipated,” or comparable terms. Future results may differ materially from management's current expectations, based upon risks and uncertainties such as expected economic trends, the ability to anticipate consumer preferences, the ability to control costs, etc. Please refer to Coach's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete list of risk factors.