Brands Briefing: How Coach plans to keep its hold on Gen Z

In May, Coach revealed that two-thirds of its new customers in North America were Gen Z and millennials. And, in September, Coach CEO Todd Kahn stated that, in the last year, Gen Z’s retention in North America “was more than 150 basis points above balance of cohorts.” Still, the brand has 4% penetration in North America, giving itself plenty of room to grow.

Now, Coach leaders told Modern Retail in interviews, to stay in Gen Z’s good graces, Coach is working to keep pace with their interests and shopping habits. That means making products to guide them into new life phases (like a first job or college), investing in physical retail, leaning into customization and trying out different marketing platforms.

“Every year, there are 4 million 18-year-olds that come into the market, so the headroom is enormous with Gen Z,” Kimberly Wallengren, vp of marketing for Coach North America, told Modern Retail in an interview. “We’re making sure that our purpose and our storytelling are getting in front of people — encouraging them with style and fashion and confidence, and ensuring that when they are ready to buy a bag, they’re thinking of us.”

One of the ways Coach has stayed top-of-mind with Gen Z has been through its merchandise. The brand’s Teri, Tabby and Brooklyn bags (which start at $90, $195 and $225, respectively) have been especially popular with young shoppers and are often the subject of social media videos. Their price points are also resonating with Gen-Z shoppers, who are still building wealth. “We are really focused on making sure we have product in the $150-$300 range, which we have found to be the sweet spot [for Gen Z],” Manheim said.

As Coach grows, it’s important for the brand to maintain its “very balanced price architecture,” said Neil Saunders, managing director for GlobalData Retail. Bag charms, for instance, start at $55. That entry point into the brand is key, Saunders said, because “Gen Z is the high-spending consumer of tomorrow.”

“It’s smart to capture them and their attention now,” he told Modern Retail.

Coach is also investing in the in-store experience to woo Gen Z. The brand opened its first coffee shops earlier this year, and it plans to open dozens more. Meanwhile, its Coach Play concept — which is more experiential, and was introduced back in 2023 — is keeping Gen Z engaged through DJ sets and ice cream stations. “There was this hypothesis that [Gen Z] was only going to shop online and be digitally engaged,” Manheim said. “And it’s not true. We’re really seeing them come to stores.”

On the marketing front, Coach is investing in key partnerships, including its recent work with Amazon Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Coach products were integrated into the third season of the show, and fans could buy them on Amazon. The show’s main actress, Lola Tung, is also a leading face of Coach’s “Coachtopia” circular-fashion initiative. Meanwhile, in April, Coach became the first official handbag partner of the WNBA, partnering with five rookie athletes and presenting WNBA Pride. The deal is a multi-year one, and already, Coach has seen consideration lift, Wallengren said. She said Coach now plans to “come back in stronger” for the 2026 season.

There’s more up next for Coach. On the sports front, Coach plans to start inking NIL (name, image, likeness) deals with college athletes, Wallengren said. The company is also looking to tap into other social platforms besides TikTok and Meta. Pinterest, which counts a high number of Gen-Z users, is “a platform I would love to play in,” Wallengren said. She also sees “so much opportunity” on Substack. “We haven’t yet found the right entry point, but as soon as we do, I’m sure you’ll see us there,” she explained.

Still, it’s a tough time for Coach to continue a hot streak, as the wider luxury market is grappling with macroeconomic challenges, like tariffs and shifting consumer sentiment. In June, Bain & Co. said the global luxury sector was confronting “its biggest potential setbacks for at least 15 years.” And last year, Tapestry, Coach’s parent company, abandoned its merger with Capri Holdings, estimated at some $8.5 billion.

Jessica Ramírez, co-founder and managing director of The Consumer Collective, is confident Coach can weather the storm, as long as it doesn’t get complacent. “Their product has been amazing, and they understand how the consumer thinks,” she told Modern Retail. “But they have to continue future-proofing the brand. You can never stay stagnant, because that’s when business goes down.” –Julia Waldow

Little Spoon hits Target

Little Spoon is making its Target debut after seven years of selling baby and kids’ food through DTC channels. The company, which is on track to surpass $150 million in net revenue this year, is launching in 1,800 Target stores nationwide with an unusually large rollout that spans 23 SKUs, six aisles and seven categories. The products include pantry-friendly items like pouches and oat-based snack bars, plus new frozen multi-serve items, like meatballs and nuggets, that are exclusive to Target. 

“We didn’t want to just launch a few SKUs in a single category,” said CEO and co-founder Ben Lewis. “We wanted to make a big splash with a national launch across many different ages — baby all the way up to older kids — with enough of an assortment to have a critical mass and make a meaningful impact.”

Lewis also told Modern Retail that the strategy aims to prevent cannibalizing its DTC sales by keeping top-selling items available only through its sites. That includes plates, early finger foods (which the company calls “biteables”) and baby blends, which are its biggest revenue generators and biggest acquisition opportunities. It’s also launching with fewer flavors available in stores — like six smoothie types instead of 17 on LittleSpoon.com.

Lewis knew the Target pairing made sense when he met with Target buyers and merchandisers who had been Little Spoon customers in the past. “They totally got it,” he said. –Melissa Daniels

Fourth-quarter hiring projected to hit lowest rate since 2009

Ahead of the holidays, there’s a ho-hum hiring outlook in the retail sector. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data, retailers are projected to add less than 500,000 positions during the fourth quarter of 2025, an 8% decline from last year. 

Some industry analysts believe these figures don’t only point to a weak labor market, but can also be a bellwether of lackluster holiday sales and supply chain stress.

But these stats don’t show the big picture of how seasonal hiring ebbs and flows. According to Coresight Research tracking, last year, there was a planned U.S. retail holiday hiring total of 507,500, excluding logistics firms, which was up for the second year in a row. 

“We do see substantial shifts in these totals year to year, and numbers were already well down from approximately 740,000 in the peak year of 2021,” said John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight Research. “So, downward and upward shifts are a regular part of seasonal hiring.” –Gabriela Barkho

What I’m reading

• Executives who stepped into the CEO role this year at companies like REI, Peloton and more spoke with the New York Times about what it’s been like taking on a new role in a year marked by tariffs and macroeconomic whiplash.
• Jennifer Garner’s baby food company Once Upon a Farm has filed for an IPO.
• OpenAI partners with Etsy, Shopify on ChatGPT checkout.

What we’ve covered

• How Kate Spade’s new CEO plans to revive the brand.
• Quince customers mistakenly hit with tariff bills.
• What the NikeSkims launch says about the state of women’s activewear.