Handbags Wholesale in Usa

The $7 billion U.S. market for handbags, the fastest-growing product in the fashion industry, might be slowing from report growth.

U.S. sales raises that peaked at 28 percent in 2004, the strongest on report, may give way to as little as 15 % this yr and are not displaying indicators of returning till at least 2009, based on the brand new York-based stock research firm Telsey Advisory Group.

"The handbag business has softened up a little bit," stated Kathryn Deane, president of New york fashion-consulting firm Tobe. "When the consumer appears at equipment, she is not just searching at handbags anymore."
U.S. handbag product sales gains may have peaked as competition from footwear and jewelry heats up and greater gasoline and mortgage costs slow customer investing.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA's acquire in sales of style and leather items may slow beneath the eleven % the Paris-based business recorded in 2006, stated John Man, an analyst at MF International Securities in London.

U.S. product sales of handbags costing a minimum of $100 might broaden twenty percent this year, in contrast with 22 percent last year, according to New York-based Coach Inc., which says it is the U.S. leader with a 31 percent marketplace share. Handbag need ignited within the late 1990s.

"Slower development in the handbag section general is a prudent outlook given the financial situation we discover ourselves in correct now," said Patricia Edwards, who helps manage $11.nine billion, such as Coach shares, at Wentworth, Hauser & Violich in Seattle.

Coach is taking a positive view of the market, spokeswoman Andrea Resnick stated. The projected U.S. sales gain of 20 % is an extension of five years of gains, Resnick said.

Handbag makers, led by Coach and Louis Vuitton, are vying for the attention of consumers who are spending money on Tory Burch ballet flats and David Yurman bracelets, retail executives said.

"It used to be all about the shoes and our woman had so many shoes in her closet, then it became the multiplicity of replica designer handbags," Saks Inc. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sadove told investors at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference on Sept. 6. "What you are seeing now is really a new trend, which is branded designer fine jewellery."

Coach expects its total revenue from worldwide product sales to increase 21 % in the yr through June 28, 2008, Chief Financial Officer Michael Devine told analysts meeting at its headquarters on Sept. 7. That's beneath the 28 % rise the previous yr. Handbags accounted for 64 percent of Coach's product sales in the year ended June 30.

Louis Vuitton has found that "growth within the U.S. luxury market section continues to accelerate on an annual basis," Molly Morse, a spokeswoman, said declining to provide figures.

Handbags still are the fastest-growing part of the U.S. style business, ahead of earrings, wallets and other small leather items, based on NPD Group Inc., a marketplace study firm in Port Washington, N.Y.

A Goldman survey of 1,550 consumers, released in June, found that 32 percent expected to buy fewer handbags this year. About 18 percent stated they'd buy more, and 51 % said they planned to purchase the same number.

The report points out positive prospects for Coach. "The survey strongly supports our positive views on Coach's fundamental outlook," Margaret Mager, a Goldman analyst, wrote.

Cristin Murphy reflects the limits to record demand. Murphy, who lives in Aliso Viejo, Calif., said her investing on bags peaked in 2003, and her handbag wardrobe includes five Coach, two Prada, a Burberry and a Kate Spade.

"I have kind of made my investment in replica handbags," stated Murphy, 35.