“The idea of American dream and the idea of New York and the idea that anything is possible opens up the world of opportunity to international consumers,” Luis said.

But it’s hard to tell how much Mickey Mouse bags and other novelty products can lift the Coach brand. Though Vevers designed the Disney items to be edgy and sophisticated, they may have less appeal to domestic shoppers than to foreign tourists. And the strong dollar has made products from U.S. companies a tougher sell.

The ultimate problem for Coach is its heavy reliance on handbags, which make up 80 percent of its sales, said Christian Buss, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG. That category is still in a slump, he said.

Purse Problems

“We are really concerned about slowing growth in the handbag category in North America,” Buss said. “If the category isn’t growing and the category isn’t healthy, it will be much more challenging for Coach to turn around its earnings.”

Coach also gets 60 percent of its sales from outlets, according to Buss. That makes it hard to wean the company off discounting and burnish the brand.

Vevers’s Coach 1941 line, named after the founding year of the brand, is an attempt to get back some of the company’s glamour. It has helped Coach increase distribution from some department and specialty stores and get into retailers that it hasn’t been in before. In turn, the company may be able to reduce its exposure to some lower-tier stores, Luis said.

Coach’s efforts to modernize the brand with new products and marketing are still in the early stages, he said.

“It’s kind of endless -- you can’t say we’re finished,” Luis said. “There’s still a tremendous amount to do.”

First « 1 2 » Next