nyse coh s & p 500 component industry fashion accessories founded 1941 founder lillian and miles cahn 1 headquarters 10 hudson yards new york ny 10001 2 united states number of locations 1 014 2014 3 key people jide zeitlin chairman of the board 4 victor luis ceo stuart vevers 5 executive creative director jane nielsen cfo products women s and men s bags women s and men s accessories women s and men s apparel watches footwear jewelry eyewear and fragrance revenue 4.24 billion 2016 6 operating income us 1.2516 billion 2014 3 us 1.577743 billion 2013 2 net income us 869.617 million 2014 3 us 1.066988 billion 2013 2 total assets 4.6 billion 2016 total equity us 2.420653 billion 2014 3 us 2.409158 billion 2013 2 number of employees approx . 17 200 2014 3 website coach.com coach modern style logo coach inc. is an american luxury fashion company based in new york city . 2 the company is known for accessories and gifts for women and men including handbags men s bags women s and men s small leather goods footwear outerwear ready to wear watches travel accessories scarves sunwear fragrance jewelry and other accessories . contents 1 history 1.1 founding 1.2 1946 miles & lillian cahn join coach 1.3 1961 1974 bonnie cashin designs for coach 1.4 1979 lewis frankfort joins coach 1.5 1985 sale to sara lee 1.6 1996 reed krakoff leads design 1.7 2013 present leadership changes and store closures 2 corporate affairs 2.1 name 2.2 executives 2.3 deaths 2.4 the coach foundation 2.5 ownership 2.6 brand 2.7 operations 2.7.1 locations 2.7.2 ecommerce 3 references 4 external links history edit founding edit coach store on bleecker street in new york city coach in markville shopping centre coach in west edmonton mall . coach was founded in 1941 as a family run workshop in a loft on 34th street in manhattan 7 8 with six leatherworkers who made wallets and billfolds by hand . 9 1946 miles & lillian cahn join coach edit in 1946 miles cahn and his wife lillian joined the company . 10 miles and lillian cahn were owners of a leather handbag manufacturing business and were knowledgeable about leatherworks and business . 9 by 1950 cahn had taken over the business . during the early years cahn noticed the distinctive properties and qualities of the leather used to make baseball gloves . with wear and use the leather in a glove became softer and suppler . attempting to mimic this process cahn created a way of processing the leather to make it stronger softer and more flexible . since the leather absorbed dye very well this process also created a richer deeper color in the leather . 11 soon after cahn developed this new process lillian cahn suggested to miles that the company supplement the factory s men s accessories business by adding women s leather handbags . 9 the sturdy cowhide bags were an immediate hit . 9 miles and lillian cahn bought the company through a leveraged buyout in 1961 . 9 1961 1974 bonnie cashin designs for coach edit in 1961 cahn hired bonnie cashin a sportswear pioneer to design handbags for coach . 9 cashin revolutionized the product s design working as creative head for coach from 1962 through 1974 . 9 cashin instituted the inclusion of side pockets coin purses and brighter colors as opposed to the usual hues of browns and tans in the products . 9 cashin also designed matching shoes pens key fobs and eyewear 9 and added hardware to both her clothes and accessories particularly the silver toggle that became the coach hallmark declaring that she had been inspired by a memory of quickly fastening the top on her convertible sports car . 1979 lewis frankfort joins coach edit in 1979 lewis frankfort joined the company as vice president of business development . during this time coach was making 6 million in sales and products were being distributed through the domestic wholesale channel primarily in the northeast . 10 he was mentored by the then executive vp of sales richard rose . richard joined coach in 1965 and he is credited with making coach a household name after putting the product in department stores across the united states and abroad . he retired from his position in the company in 1995 . in 1981 under frankfort s leadership the company opened its first directly operated retail location on madison avenue in manhattan . 12 1985 sale to sara lee edit in 1985 the cahns decided to sell coach leatherware after determining they wanted to devote more time to their growing goat farm and cheese production business called coach farm in gallatinville new york which they began in 1983 . 9 coach was then sold to sara lee corporation for a reported 30 million . 9 lew frankfort succeeded cahn as president . 9 sara lee structured coach under its hanes group . 9 in early 1986 new boutiques were opened in macy s stores in new york and san francisco . additional coach stores were under construction and similar boutiques were to be opened in other major department stores later that year . by november 1986 the company was operating 12 stores along with nearly 50 boutiques within larger department stores . 1996 reed krakoff leads design edit in 1996 lew frankfort was named chairman and ceo of coach . the following year under frankfort s leadership coach hired reed krakoff whose creative and commercials instincts aimed to make coach products functional lightweight and stylish . 7 krakoff s design transformed coach from the relatively small company that it was in 1985 into the worldwide known brand that it is today . 7 13 2013 present leadership changes and store closures edit in february 2013 coach named victor luis president and chief commercial officer and announced that he would become chief executive officer in january 2014 with lew frankfort continuing as executive chairman . 14 in 2013 coach generated 5 billion in sales and operated approximately 1 000 directly operated locations globally including north america japan china singapore taiwan malaysia korea and europe . 2 in 2014 the company announced stuart vevers as the new executive creative director replacing reed krakoff . 15 during 2014 coach also announced that lew frankfort would retire as executive chairman at the expiration of his term in november 2014 . 16 in january 2015 coach agreed to buy shoemaker stuart weitzman for up to 574 million in cash . 17 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of coach . 18 the company announced plans in 2016 to close 70 north american stores or one fifth of its retail locations and renovate the remaining stores . in line with the store closures 300 jobs would also be cut which is 2 % of its global workforce . 19 corporate affairs edit name edit coach purse with the signature monogram c. on june 1 2000 the company changed its name to coach inc. 20 executives edit lewis frankfort has been involved with coach for more than 30 years . 21 he was named chairman and ceo in 1995 and in 2014 became executive chairman . during 2000 he oversaw coach s transition to a publicly traded company listed on the nyse and in 2011 became the first american issuer to list on the stock exchange of hong kong . victor luis was named chief executive officer of coach inc. in january 2014 . 22 prior to his appointment and beginning in february 2013 he held the role of president and chief commercial officer of coach inc. also serving on coach s board of directors . luis has been a member of coach s senior leadership team since joining the company in 2006 holding a number of international management roles and leading coach s expansion in asia . 22 most recently he served as president international group and was responsible for coach s operations outside of north america . prior he was president of coach retail international where he oversaw the company s directly operated businesses in china hong kong macau and mainland japan singapore and taiwan and president & ceo of coach china and coach japan . luis originally joined coach as president & ceo coach japan inc. before joining coach from 2002 to 2006 luis was president and chief executive officer for baccarat inc. leading north american operation of the french luxury brand . 23 earlier in his career luis held marketing and sales positions within the mo t hennessy louis vuitton lvmh group . stuart vevers joined coach in the fall of 2013 as executive creative director . vevers joined coach from loewe where he held the role of creative director since 2008 . 24 prior to loewe he served as creative director of mulberry from 2005 to 2008 . he began his career at calvin klein and has contributed in creative roles with bottega veneta givenchy and louis vuitton . in 2006 vevers won the british fashion council s accessory designer of the year award . jide j. zeitlin joined coach inc. november 6 2014 . he had previously been a partner at the goldman sachs group inc. zeitlin joined goldman sachs in 1987 and became a partner in 1996 . he retired in december 2005 and currently serves coach inc. as independent chairman of the board and the affiliated managers group inc. as the director . 25 deaths edit lillian cahn died aged 89 march 4 2013 in manhattan ny . 26 the coach foundation edit the coach foundation was established in 2008 to support organizations that empower and educate women and children around the world . 27 according to the foundation s website via coach.com the program has two areas of focus coach s women s initiative explores the best opportunities to help women fully realize their potential by supporting programs that encourage personal and economic empowerment . coach s education initiative focuses on improving educational opportunities for the underserved to provide everyone with the opportunity to learn grow and meaningfully contribute to our society . 27 additionally coach inc. also funds select projects that enhance the environment in communities where it conducts principal business operations . 28 ownership edit sara lee corporation divested itself of coach first by selling 19.5 % of their shares of coach at the coach ipo in october 2000 followed in april 2001 with the distribution of their remaining shares to sara lee s stockholders through an exchange offer . 29 brand edit a store with the logo of coach inc. in 1959 coach introduced its logo . 10 operations edit locations edit as of 2013 there are approximately 1 000 coach stores in north america with more expected to open . coach has also built a strong presence in the u.s. through coach boutiques located within select department stores and specialty retailer locations . 29 today coach s corporate headquarters remain in mid town manhattan on 34th street in the location of their former factory lofts . in august 2016 the company finalized the sale and leaseback of its office condo portion of 10 hudson yards its headquarters . coach received 707 million before transaction costs . this translated into a gain of approximately 30 million . 19 ecommerce edit in 1999 coach launched its online store at www.coach.com . 30 references edit karmali sarah march 11 2013 . coach co founder lillian cahn dies . vogue news . a b c d e f coach inc. 2013 annual report form 10 k xbrl . united states securities and exchange commission . august 22 2013 . a b c d e coach inc. fy14 annual report form 10 k . united states securities and exchange commission . http www.reuters.com finance stocks companyofficers symbol coh karimzadeh marc 4 february 2014 . stuart vevers ready to unveil first coach collection . wwd . retrieved 4 february 2014 . coach annual