Coach to buy rival Kate Spade for $2.4 billion amid sagging handbag sales

Kate Spade.
(Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Kate Spade New York)

Coach has reached an agreement to buy handbag maker Kate Spade for $2.4 billion amid industry-wide struggles to get customers to pay full price for luxury items, Bloomberg reports. The companies have reportedly been in talks about the acquisition for months.

The retail industry "isn't as robust as we thought it would be at the beginning," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Chen Grazutis noted following the sale. "It doesn't bode well for other brands' valuation."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.