Click here to go back to the Vera Bradley Catalogue!
By Staff — Gifts & Decorative Accessories
Fort Wayne, IN — Seizing the opportunity to help its retail partners grow with the brand, fashion accents manufacturer Vera Bradley is set to become the latest company in the gift industry to bring its sales force in-house. According to a company spokesman, the move to an employee sales organization will allow Vera Bradley salespeople to perform in a more consultative capacity with retailers.
“To achieve this, we must have a greater degree of control, relative to the activities of the sales force,” said Mike Ray, vice president of sales and marketing for Vera Bradley.
Of course, Vera Bradley is by no means the first company in the industry to take its sales in-house. Demdaco did so just last October, saying the decision was extremely difficult while expressing a vote of confidence in the very reps they were no longer doing business with. When Toland (pre-buyout) switched from independent reps to a team of in-house telemarketers in 2000, the event drew a storm of comment in the pages of Gifts & Dec.
Other companies have gone back and forth through the years. Enesco (pre-reorganization) brought its sales in house in 2001; in a move similar to Vera Bradley’s, it offered its former reps the chance to stay as employees. But a year later the company reversed course, at least in part, and farmed the Milieu home decor product line back out to independents. Giftware Holdings took its Michel & Co. sales force in-house when it bought the company in December 1997; but when Michel Studio took over in 2001, the line was promptly sent to independent reps once again.
Vera Bradley’s decision to convert to an employee organization was made after an in-depth evaluation of the needs of the company and its retail partners. “The economics of the independent sales model no longer make sense for our business,” said Ray. According to the company, another reason for the move is that some independent reps were hiring “sub-reps” for Vera Bradley lines — a practice that further distances the company from retailers, thereby diluting the brand.
Founder and owner Barbara Baekgaard confirmed to Gifts & Dec that the company has notified its independent sales reps of the new business strategy; she also indicated that those who currently rep for Vera Bradley will be offered the opportunity to join the employee sales force.
As a result of the change in sales strategy, Vera Bradley will no longer exhibit at showrooms in Seattle, Los Angeles and Dallas, and will launch the Vera Bradley Premiere this Fall in six cities: Las Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Washington, DC.
The 10 stores scheduled to open by the end of this year include locations in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago (two), Memphis, TN; Birmingham, AL; Kansas City, MO; Bridgewater, NJ and Milwaukee, WI.
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
