Jewellery (jewelry)

By Julee Kaplan Tory Burch is stepping on the accelerator.

With handbag sales surging 50 percent and accessories revenues overall increasing by 200 percent last year, the designer is out to drive her business to the next level via overseas expansion, rolling out more sportswear/accessories stores in the U.S., a brand new image campaign and adding more product categories.

The four-year-old company ? which sources say already has sales of $200 million annually ? is now housed in a newly designed 25,000-square-foot space in New York on the seventh floor of 11 West 19th Street. The place is decorated with Burch’s signature orange walls, rich wood floors, bright pink and orange chairs and tastefully lit mirrors, and is three times larger than the former office at 99 Madison Avenue.

The space allows the entire Tory Burch team to work on one floor ? there’s design, production, merchandising, retail, marketing and, of course, an extra-large showroom that houses the apparel and accessories.

As it turns out, the new space opened just in time, since Burch plans a major expansion beginning in the fall.

“We looked for a space for quite some time, and couldn’t find anything like this,” said Burch from her bright orange, green carpeted and mirror-filled showroom. “It was really important for us to all be on one floor.”

Burch made clear the expansion plans she has for the brand don’t include a sale of her company ? an idea, she said, that she will never be closed to, but just isn’t thinking about right now.

“I’ve taken a lot of meetings, and met with many people about this,” the designer said. “I never turn down a meeting, but I just don’t feel that it’s the right thing to do right now.”

Also, after a much-publicized separation two years ago from venture capitalist Christopher Burch, the designer said she and her soon-to-be ex-husband remain friends and co-owners in the business.

“We have a really good relationship,” Burch said. “It wasn’t always like this, but we do now. We’ve overcome our issues and I’m honestly proud of that. He is a decision-maker in the company, we have six kids ? three together and he came with my three stepdaughters, whom I remain really close with.”
1 234 | next

wwd.com