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Andrea Guerra joins Coach board of directors

By Kristopher Fraser

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In its continuous efforts to try and turn their company around, Coach has appointed Andrea Guerra, the former Chief Executive Officer of Luxottica Group SpA, to their Board of Directors. Coach CEO Victor Louis announced the appointment of Guerra on their website stating, “We are extremely pleased to announce that Andrea Guerra has agreed to join our board.” As the CEO of Luxottica Group, Guerra oversaw the control over 80 percent of the world’s major eyewear brands, including Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley. Luxottica also made sunglasses and prescription glasses for a number of luxury brands, including Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Stella McCartney, and Donna Karan.

He arrives to the Coach Board of Directors with a very impressive resume, with his other stints including CEO of Italian white goods manufacturer Merloni Elettrodomestici, and even an appointment as Senior Strategic Advisor for Business, Finance, and Industry to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Guerra left Luxottica Group in September 2014 citing differences with the founder, Leonardo Del Vecchio. He spent ten years at Luxottica Group before he left in 2014, having more than doubled the company’s revenue to 7.3 billion euro during that time.

Luis is hoping that Guerra’s success having overseen multiple luxury brands at a time will help take Coach in a much needed direction after a less than stellar year in 2014. Guerra’s connections extend well beyond the fashion industry as well. In 2014 he accompanied Prime Minister Renzi to Australia for the G20 meeting and is expected to act as a liaison to the rest of the industrial world. Guerra is also a member of the steering committee of Strategico Italiano SpA, the holding controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a joint-stock company under public control. In addition, Guerra has Board of Directors experience, also serving on the boards of hearing-aid firm Ampifon SpA and domestic appliance manufacturer Ariston Thermo SpA.

The appointment of Guerra brings the Board of Directors membership to nine. Several of the other members include Dave Denton who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CVS Caremark, and Chairman Jide Zeitlin, a former partner at Goldman Sachs. Guerra could not have been a more perfect choice as one of the biggest challenges of luxury brands in 2015 will be how they will handle the sluggish European markets, and he has more than his share of experience with the European market. With Coach moving toward transforming itself in a major luxury brand instead of just a label known for their handbags his experience with eyewear will be more than welcome with their accessories department as well.

After their 20 percent drop in sales last quarter to 785 million dollars the retailer is looking for any and all ways to continue turning their company around. Part of this is due to same-store sales in the North American region dropping 22 percent. Comparatively, competitor Michael Kors who had a very successful last year, is expecting a drop in profits for the current quarter also due to sluggish same-store sales, too. Part of the decline in same-store sales is due to customers moving more towards e-commerce, and moving away from brick-and-mortar stores. With Guerra poised to be a strong voice on the board in terms of the direction of its accessories, specifically eyewear, as well as a strong voice for bolstering Coach’s international presence, especially in Europe, Coach’s next step should be to add someone to their board with a strong track record on e-commerce.

Coach is all about what it will do next this year in their attempts to reposition themselves as a highly coveted luxury label, so the fashion industry will be on their toes all year wondering what they will do next. It is interesting to see exactly what Guerra will bring to the table, but this is one of the first major steps this year for Coach in taking their brand in a new direction. Guerra has made it known that he is more than excited. Upon his appointment he stated, “I am excited to be joining the Board of Directors of one of the most respected brands in the world. I look forward to supporting Coach and its strategies to transform into a leading luxury lifestyle brand.” There is a lot of faith being put in Guerra, and if his track record proves anything he will be sure not to disappoint, meaning great things are in store for Coach.

Andrea Guerra
Coach