The convergence was just too irresistible to fight: the week of the SHRM Annual Conference (where on Wednesday in the SHRM version of the 'Session Time of Death', Trish McFarlane and I will be presenting), I run across a story and chart about HR ladies' traditional favorite accessory maker, Coach.
Turns out, times are getting a little tough for Coach - in the last couple of years it has seen it's sales growth evaporate, its stock price essentially miss the entire bull market, and the emergence of increased competition from companies like Michael Kors and Tory Burch.
Today's chart, courtesy of Bloomberg Businessweek, shows the percentage change in same-store sales (a really important data point in retail), for Coach and its principal rival for the arms of HR ladies everywhere, Michael Kors.
Pretty ugly if you are a fan of Coach, (or a stockholder). Kors has been killing it while Coach seems to be in the beginnings of their death spiral.
Times are certainly changing, I guess - whatever allure Coach had for many years seems to be waning and companies like Kors and Tory Burch and Kate Spade are the new must-haves.
What in fact do I know about any of these trends in women's fashion and accessories?
Hardly anything. But I have owned and loved a series of Coach men's wallets over the years, so I suppose I should think about making a future replacement purchase as insurance - just in case in three years when my current wallet is about needing to be retired there will be no more Coach to speak of. The relationship a man has with his wallet is a pretty important one, second only to the one he has with his butcher I would think. So put me on the record as hoping Coach figures it out.
If you are heading to SHRM, have fun - look around and see if you can spot this changing of the guard so to speak as you wander the halls and the Expo.
Have a great week!