The Under comes in...

And for those of you scoring at home--please note it was 3 years, 8 months, and 3 days. Those who bet the "under" on 5 years are winners--please take your tickets to the cashier's booth.

1344 days between the day Coach exited the business, and the day they returned to the business. "Returned" is a qualified word, because they are returning in a materially different way than they exited. Fewer accounts. WAY fewer.

But they're returning to the channel and I'm happy to see it. It adds credibility to the major resellers in our business that a brand like Coach would leave the market but then return after a time. Everyone that plays in the channel benefits from prestige brands like Coach making an effort to sell our customers.

Make no mistake--this is not March 2007 again, and it's unlikely that it will ever be that way. The days of selling hundreds of accounts in the Corporate world will not return because the Brand Police cannot accept the possible consequences of trans-shipped product. Period.

The customer list is small--I've heard three clients only so far. Perhaps there will be more, but probably no more than a dozen or so at first. As the Coach people get more comfortable with those, perhaps others will be added. But the heady days of the mid-aughts will not return anytime soon.

Coach's stock took a hit when they announced their exit from the Corporate market. Our channel wasn't much in terms of the topline, but the business was profitable and brand-enhancing for the most part. A few bad apples caused the brand to reconsider their presence, and we were all the poorer for it.

So, 1344 days pass. Then, a new day dawns. It's Morning in America, or at least the Incentive Business...


Pete