Coach Adding 40 Stores

NEW YORK CITY-Leather handbag and accessory retailer Coach Inc. will open 40 stores in North America this year – 10 more than originally planned – and add 10 locations in Japan as the upscale leather goods chain looks to expand its presence in its two strongest markets.

The locally-based company, which opened seven North American retail stores and three factory outlets during the second fiscal quarter of 2007, said the 10 additional stores planned for North America were a result of several multi-store portfolio deals with developers. The firm, which currently has 237 retail stores and 90 factory locations, also opened two retail stores in Japan during the three month period ended Dec. 30.

“Clearly the Coach brand has reached a new level of popularity among North American consumers,” Lew Frankfort, Coach’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts.