bcla
On our rugged Eastern foothills.....
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
- Messages
- 25,819
The issue with Coach is that they decided to essentially mass market with Coach Factory stores and eventually went to making designs just for selling at outlet malls (look for a product number starting with F or FS). They were also holdouts regarding mostly American manufacturing until about 2000, when they heavily started offshoring manufacturing, especially to China. There was also a time when they had classic styles and were primarily a leather goods company. They also had zero external logos, except for the leather tag on a ball chain, which was typically removed. It was once an exclusive brand, but it no longer has that reputation.
I remember back when Coach Factory stores were only selling overstocks and discontinued items, and everything they sold were once at their regular stores. They were also only in high end locations. Once I'd been outlet shopping (Vacaville, CA) with my folks, and they wanted to see if we could find one nearby. Turns out the only one for 100 miles was in St Helena in the Napa Valley wine country, in an area with high priced boutique stores. We gave up trying to find it because it would be closed by the time we got there. I later bought stuff at their locations in Carmel and Santa Barbara.
The warranty return policy (even for regular store purchases) has gotten worse over the years. I bought a few handbags for my mom from Coach, and they used to accept them at their stores and maybe charge a $10 return shipping charge (or hold them for pickup at their cost). Now they won't take them in at a store (where it can be evaluated first) and you need to ship it to them (at your own expense) then wait for someone to contact you about options while your piece is with them.
There's the occasional piece they have that's still their classic baseball glove style leather without external markings. This is what they built their reputation on before going to every major outlet mall, and sometimes they even have these styles at their Coach Factory stores.
I've bought their stuff over the years as gifts and even a few items for myself like an iPad cover and belt. I actually found the belt at Ross (an off price store). As a guy I don't really have much need for a handbag (although they do have some man purses) but my wife has probably bought way too much stuff there, although most were gifts. Her go to bag is now Coach baseball glove leather with brass hardware. Made in Vietnam though. Doubt they'll ever go back to American manufacturing.
