Coach is Slowly Doing the Impossible: Restoring its Upscale Aura

Coach seems to be achieving the nearly unattainable in retail: giving a brand that was cheapened by years of discounts its luster back. The handbag maker reported on Tuesday that net sales rose 7 percent to $1.27 billion in its second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 26, buoyed by growth in China and its men’s lines. More importantly, there were signs that Coach’s years-long sales hemorrhage in North America, still its biggest market, is about to end: comparable sales fell 4 percent, the 11th straight quarter of declines, but the smallest drop in more than two years.