5/1/13
Kate Spade sees “enormous potential” in home décor, beauty, intimate apparel, children’s apparel, swimwear, luggage, and active wear. These new license categories are expected to launch and begin generating sales in 2013-2016, with “an attainable $100 million to $150 million on our horizons over the next four years,” according to company executives from the brand’s parent company, Fifth & Pacific.
Executives believe home décor will be the biggest single licensing category for Kate Spade, generating retail sales in excess of $200 million a year. Other strong categories include eyewear and footwear.
However, Kate Spade has taken or kept its watches, jewelry, and fragrance lines in-house, shortening the ramp-up time from ideation to in-store sales by nine months. Fifth & Pacific also says its jewelry business is two to three times more profitable in-house than as a licensed brand.
Source: Kate Spade (Fifth & Pacific), Lindsay Knaak-Stuart, Director Marketing Strategy, 48 W. 25th St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10010; 212-739-6550; lknaak@katespade.com; www.katespade.com.
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