Vera Bradley is a leading designer of women’s handbags and accessories,
luggage and travel items, eyewear, and stationery and gifts. Founded in 1982
by friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller, the brand’s
innovative designs, iconic patterns and versatile styles offer women of all
ages a colorful way to accessorize every look.
Vera Bradley offers a unique, multi-channel sales model, as well as a focus
on service and a high level of customer engagement. The Company sells its products
through two reportable segments: Direct and Indirect. The Direct business consists
of sales of Vera Bradley products through the Company’s full-line and
factory outlet stores in the United States, verabradley.com, direct-to-consumer
eBay sales, and the Company’s annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
We believe the following competitive strengths differentiate us within the
marketplace and provide a strong foundation for our future growth:
Strong Brand Identity and Positioning. We believe the Vera Bradley brand is
highly recognized for its distinctive and vibrant style. Vera Bradley is positioned
in the market as a lifestyle brand that inspires consumers to express their
femininity, individuality, and sense of style. We have also positioned our brand
to highlight the high quality and functional attributes of our products. The
Vera Bradley brand is more price accessible than many competing brands, which
allows us to attract a wide range of consumers and increases our ability to
achieve repeat purchases.
Exceptional Customer Loyalty. We believe we have a segment of long-term consumers
who act as loyal and enthusiastic brand advocates. We believe this enthusiasm
for our brand by our loyal customers inspires repeat purchases. Our customers
often purchase our products as gifts for family members and friends, who we
strive to turn into brand enthusiasts.
Product Development Expertise. Our product development team combines an understanding
of consumer preferences with a knowledge of color, fashion, and style trends
to design our products. Our creative design associates utilize a disciplined
product design process that seeks to maximize the productivity of our product
releases and drive consumer demand.
Dynamic Multi-Channel Distribution Model. We offer our products through a diverse
choice of shopping options across channels that are intimate, highly shop-able,
fun, and characteristic of our brand. Whether they are at a Vera Bradley store,
a specialty retail store, a department store, or verabradley.com, we believe
consumers have an opportunity to find the brand in places that match their unique
shopping interests. Our multi-channel distribution model enables us to maximize
customer access to our products.
Established Network of Indirect Retailers. Our Indirect specialty retail business
consists of an established and diverse network of approximately 2,600 locations.
This channel, primarily located throughout the United States, includes some
of the brand’s strongest advocates, and their passion has been instrumental
in the development of our brand.
Unique Company Culture. We were founded in 1982 by two friends, Barbara Bradley
Baekgaard and Patricia Miller, who built our business around their passion for
design and commitment to customer service. We believe our founders created a
unique culture that attracts passionate and motivated employees who are excited
about our products and our brand. Our employees share our founders’ commitment
to Vera Bradley customers. We believe that a fun, friendly, and welcoming work
environment fosters creativity and collaboration and that, by empowering our
employees to become personally involved in product design, testing, and marketing,
they become passionate and devoted brand advocates.
Experienced Management Team. Our senior management team led by Robert Wallstrom,
our Chief Executive Officer, has extensive experience across a diverse range
of disciplines in product design, merchandising, marketing, store operations
and development, supply chain management, and finance.
We have implemented a fully integrated and cross-functional product development
process that aligns design, market research, merchandising, planning, sales,
marketing, and sourcing. Product development is a core capability that makes
our products unique. Our designs and aesthetics set our products apart and drive
customer loyalty. Our product development team mixes an understanding of the
needs of our target Day Maker customers, with knowledge of upcoming color and
fashion trends, to design new collections, as well as new product categories,
that will resonate in the market.
We typically begin the development stage of our products in the Vera Bradley
portfolio twelve to eighteen months in advance of their release. The development
of each new pattern includes the design of a primary, secondary, and sometimes
a tertiary print. To seek fresh perspectives, we often collaborate with independent
designers to create unique patterns for each season and also maintain an internal
print design team. We oversee the development and exercise the final approval
of all patterns and designs. Once developed, we generally copyright our patterns
as appropriate. We believe that great design is not only central to our product
development efforts, but also is a fundamental part of our brand development
and growth strategies.
Our product development team works to ensure that new collections contain an
assortment of products and styles that are in line with both fashion trends
and Day Maker customer needs and regularly updates classic styles to enhance
functionality. In addition, we actively pursue opportunities to expand our product
offerings through new line and brand extensions. Our product development team
monitors fashion trends and customer needs by attending major trend shows in
Europe and the United States, subscribing to trend monitoring services, and
engaging in comparison-shopping.
Our product development team works closely with our marketing team to gather
consumer insights through seasonal market research and in-store testing. We
gather seasonal market research through a variety of methodologies, including
scheduled interviews and online and in-person surveys. The team assures that
we offer a broad range of patterns, fabrications, styles, and functional features
in a cost-effective manner. We believe that with our cross-functional, collaborative
approach, we are able to introduce and sell our merchandise in a way that clearly
communicates the Vera Bradley brand.
In addition to products developed in-house, we also pursue brand extensions
through strategic partnerships and licensing agreements. We currently have strategic
partnerships in place for development of our fragrance and jewelry collections
and licenses in place for our eyewear and collegiate collections. In the future
we will continue to look for the right strategic partners and licensees that
can augment the brand and provide established distributions networks for certain
categories of business.
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