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The History of Coach

By Trevor Eastveld

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 04Oct2009
Word count: 402
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Coach Inc. is a very well known manufacturer of leather goods, most notably handbags, briefcases and various luggage items and accessories.

The company started as a family business in Manhattan in 1941, with a staff of 6 leather workers. At this stage they focused on creating small leather items, like wallets, by hand. The Coach we know today started taking shape when Miles Cahn was employed in 1946. Just 4 years later, in 1950, he was running the factory.

After spending the 1950s manufacturing billfolds, Cahn expanded manufacturing to leather baseball gloves in 1960. Prompted by input from his wife, Jillian, the factory also started to produce women's handbags to help increase the nominal profit margins they were operating at.

These pure cowhide purses were a big change in quality from the cardboard bags that had been the standard at the time. They were given the Coach brand name, and this cleared the way for the company's entry into the luxury woman's handbag market.

In 1961 Miles and Jillian Cahn bought out the store owners with borrowed money and acquired Coach. The company continued to produce high quality handbags, avoiding changing trends and fashions and instead maintaining a very traditional, functional design quality.

By the dawn of the 1980s the Coach factory was spread across four floors of the building they occupied in Manhattan's West 34th Street. The company paid their highly skilled laborers better rates than most other factories offered, and in doing so maintained good labor relations that kept production flowing steadily.

It was also around this period that Coach started branching out into mail order, as well as setting up specialty stores. It wasn't long before the demand for Coach products began to outstrip the supply. Despite this, the Cahns refused to change the way they worked, unwilling to sacrifice quality for larger production volume.

In 1985, after none of their children showed any interest in the company, the Cahns sold it to the Sara Lee Corporation, with Lew Frankfort taking over the reigns as president. Despite decisive measures to increase production, like doubling the workforce and extending the work week to 6 days, Coach was still unable to meet demand by 1987. Despite the reduction in retail outlets they had still doubled their profits by the end of 1987.

International expansion started in 1988, with boutiques opening in England and Japan. Today Coach still maintains large profit margins with a strong worldwide presence and continued reputation for high quality products.

Designer Handbags have become an integral component of every women's fashion wardrobe. No Design House has been more prolific in the quantity and variety of handbags offered then Coach. Read the History of Coach and then visit the Largest Online Replica Designer Handbag Site at http://www.laboutique.com.ph

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