Goodbye, Coach! Luxury Handbag Company Changes Its Name To Tapestry, Loyal Customers Flip Out
The Coach company has announced a very surprising change. The storied luxury brand, most famous for its handbags and accessories, will change its corporate name to Tapestry after nearly eight decades in business. The company announced the name change will be effective on Halloween and that the company’s ticker symbol will change from COH to TPR. According to CNN Money, shares of Coach (COH) fell more than 2 percent after the announcement.
Coach’s corporate name is being changed to reflect the company’s expanding portfolio as it evolves into a multi-brand upscale retailer. Devotees of the brand’s famous wallets and clutches should know that the Coach accessories will remain Coach. Coach’s recent acquisitions, boot maker Stuart Weitzman and fellow handbag maker Kate Spade, will also keep their names, but the rebranding still has some loyalists up in arms.
In addition to the Wall Street dip, social media had a harsh reaction to the unusual change to the 76-year-old company, despite the fact that it won’t affect the name on the outside of those coveted handbags. Some critics called the company’s name change to Tapestry a terrible idea, while others questioned why the iconic company would rename their brand after folk singer Carole King’s 1971 album of the same name. You can see reactions to the Coach name change below. Others said the name sounds it should be on products found in a greeting card store or Target.
Take me out, Coach? This is odd. Coach changing name to Tapestry. Ticker to go from $COH to $TPR. Hmm. Homage to Carole King? #sarcasm
— Paul R. La Monica (@LaMonicaBuzz) October 11, 2017
Eh…what? @Coach changing its name to Tapestry Inc.
Doesn't this negate the point of heritage, legacy etc in high-end branding? $COH— Courtney Reagan (@CourtReagan) October 11, 2017
Tapestry is a terrible name. Sounds like something you'd find at a Hallmark Gold Crown store right next to (shudder) Vera Bradley. #coach
— ? George #BLM (@GML07) October 11, 2017
Coach started out as a family business in a Manhattan loft in 1941 and came to prominence as a high-end brand generations ago, in the 1960s. The name change to Tapestry is part of the company’s quest to attract younger shoppers.
Coach Inc. Is Dead. Long Live Tapestry. https://t.co/XGwyC93NOM
— Uko News Company (@ScarlettGriffie) October 11, 2017
Coach has been working hard at rebranding. Last year, the company even signed on pop superstar Selena Gomez as a brand ambassador and design collaborator, with Coach creative director Stuart Vevers describing her as the perfect young face for the company’s fall ad campaign.
“She speaks to a generation, her realness and honesty really connects,” Vevers said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Gomez even told People that Coach was her first major designer purchase when she first began earning money as a young star.
“Coach was actually one of my first designer purchases,” Gomez revealed. “Where I’m from in Texas, Coach was the must-have brand. I remember saving up with my cousin, Priscilla, to get matching wallets.”
[Featured Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]