About Samsonite
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ABOUT SAMSONITE is one of the world's largest and most recognized designers and distributors in the luggage industry. With a rich heritage that includes nearly a century in business, Samsonite has a proud tradition of developing innovative, high-quality products that integrate style, functionality and design technology to meet the changing lifestyle needs of people on the move. Samsonite's tagline – 'Life's a Journey' – embodies the brand's belief and vision, symbolizing the role Samsonite has in the multi-faceted lives of travelers. The Samsonite brand was born in 1910 when founder Jesse Shwayder began producing luggage for turn-of-the-century travelers – a small and affluent group who appreciated the Company's unique, durable and finely crafted products. As travel evolved into a mainstream activity, Samsonite's product mix evolved with it, growing to encompass a diverse range of items for a host of travel needs Along the way, Samsonite continued to anticipate and fulfill the changing requirements of travelers by introducing a string of "firsts", including the first matching luggage sets, the first lightweight luggage and the first wheeled suitcases
Today, the global travel industry continues to grow, and Samsonite continues to lead through the continuous introduction of innovative technologies, materials and design concepts, which we market through some of the most recognized brand names in the world. And while each of our brands is specifically focused on its own clearly defined customer group, every product we create continues to embody the same values on which Samsonite was founded – high quality, fine craftsmanship, exceptional reliability and enduring style.
To become one of the world’s most highly regarded premium lifestyle travel brands. Three years ago, Samsonite embarked upon a journey to transform itself into a leading global lifestyle travel company. To serve it’s purpose,it established three primary financial goals: increase sales, grow gross margins and generate improved cash flow
Samsonite's journey over the past three years has, indeed, been both deeply meaningful and highly rewarding. During this time, it has created and developed a new brand and successfully positioned it in the luxury market; built brand equity across our complementary portfolio on a global scale; and firmly placed Samsonite on the path to becoming a globally recognized innovation, quality and style leader
Samsonite is pursuing several strategic initiatives designed to capitalise on its underlying business strengths, grow and diversify our revenue stream, improve its profitability and cash flow generation and enhance the resiliency of its business. Key elements of SAMSONITE business development strategies include: • introducing a stream of innovative and contemporary products into the market; • strengthening support behind brand and product marketing and advertising; • expanding retail distribution platform; • pursuing expansion opportunities in high-growth geographic markets; • exploiting new business opportunities; • improving gross margins; and • continuing to improve operating efficiencies and cash flow generation.
Collectively, SAMSONITE brands serve every segment of the market, reaching customers in all walks of life, all over the world. It meet the discerning needs of the luxury market through Samsonite Black Label brand, while the innovative, highquality offering within time-honored Samsonite brand serves both middle- and upper-market customer segments. It’s American Tourister brand provides affordable, quality products to value-conscious consumers.
AMERICAN TOURISTER American Tourister, Inc., is one of the oldest and best-known luggage brands in the United States. Its commitment to selling durable and affordable luggage, which began with the company's founding in the 1930s. Despite several changes in parent companies in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, American Tourister retained its brand recognition with the public, Sol Koffler, founder of American Tourister. In 1933 Koffler founded American Luggage Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island In 1933 Koffler founded American Luggage Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island. Although his first luggage did not revolutionize luggage design,
Koffler was sure he had created a significantly more durable product than any competitor's in the same price range. The suitcase sold for one dollar, and, in the first year of operation, American Luggage Works sold 5,000 suitcases. As the company's only employee, Koffler handled all aspects of the business himself that year. Within two years, Koffler had hired several employees, although he himself continued to handle the luggage design and the company's sales. The company's product line had expanded to include two sizes, which sold for two and three dollars. Each size was produced in two colors, black or brown. The company's major breakthrough came soon after its founding. Koffler adapted machinery used to make plywood radio cases so that it would bend materials to make his luggage. The new equipment enabled him to simplify suitcase design significantly and still increase its durability. Koffler's new design was slim and round-cornered but still provided more room than other suitcases did. Other new features, such as linings and zippered pockets, enhanced the product's appeal. To distinguish this line from the previous ones, Koffler named it American Tourister.
In 1945, despite its rapid growth in the previous decade, American Luggage Works remained a regional firm. Aiming for sales across the United States, Koffler decided to spread awareness of the American Tourister brand. He apportioned $12,000 for a national advertising campaign, the first ever undertaken on behalf of the company. An amount unusually large for the time, that first national advertising budget set the stage for the company's continued commitment to large-scale advertising in future years Pioneering New Materials Innovation helped propel the company forward during the next two decades. The first luggage manufacturer to make an all-vinyl case the new line of American Tourister hard-sided luggage introduced a new standard of durability and economy to the luggage industry. Customers immediately responded well to the product. The company improved the chemical composition further in 1954, resulting in a case that was virtually indestructible. When the company started to receive reports of American Tourister luggage surviving incredible accidents, Koffler used them in advertisements to promote the luggage's durability. One true-life account reported that an American Tourister suitcase fell off a car traveling 60 miles per hour and was run over by another car. Other than a few scuff marks on the outer surface, the case was undamaged. Testimonials and Gorilla Advertisements These true-life accounts inspired the company's famous gorilla advertisements. Doyle Dane Bernbach agency created an award-winning print and television campaign that combined customer testimonials with photos or film of a ferocious-looking gorilla hurling
and stomping on an American Tourister case in a zoo cage. Other advertisements demonstrated the luggage's durability even in unlikely luggage mishaps, such as a case being dropped from an airplane or a speeding train. In 1978 Koffler sold his company to Hillenbrand Industries. American Tourister's first year as a Hillenbrand subsidiary marked a peak for the company. Sales in 1978 reached a record $83.8 million and operating profits amounted to a substantial $16.2 million. These figures may have simply reflected the market in general, however; Industry Week reported that the luggage industry was "enjoying a banner year." When the economy turned sour in 1980, American Tourister sales declined 7 percent and operating profits more than followed suit, dropping 60 percent in that year alone. The company tried to rally for its 50th anniversary in 1983, investing in prime time television commercials and print ads in such mainstream magazines as Reader's Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, andPeople. But the company was unable to regain the steady growth it had experienced throughout its history.
Sold to Astrum International in the Early 1990s. Although at the time of the purchase Astrum said it would run American Tourister as a unit separate from Samsonite, it clearly planned some connection between the two. In 1994, Astrum named as president of American Tourister the former Samsonite vice-president of sales and marketing, Frank Steed In an attempt to distinguish American Tourister from Samsonite, Astrum initiated a major advertising campaign in early 1994. Capitalizing on the well-known gorilla ads from a decade before, the campaign featured a gorilla, a family of chimpanzees, and an orangutan. The ads targeted family vacationers, a market clearly different from the business-oriented one pursued by Samsonite. The print ads ran in issues of Parenting, Family Circle, and Ladies Home Journal and used the tagline, "American Tourister: Making travel less primitive."
In 1995 Astrum split into two public companies, Samsonite Corp. and Culligan Water Technologies Inc., with Samsonite taking Astrum's other luggage brands, Lark and American Tourister, with it.
Today, the global travel industry continues to grow, and Samsonite continues to lead through the continuous introduction of innovative technologies, materials and design concepts, which we market through some of the most recognized brand names in the world. And while each of our brands is specifically focused on its own clearly defined customer group, every product we create continues to embody the same values on which Samsonite was founded – high quality, fine craftsmanship, exceptional reliability and enduring style.
To become one of the world’s most highly regarded premium lifestyle travel brands. Three years ago, Samsonite embarked upon a journey to transform itself into a leading global lifestyle travel company. To serve it’s purpose,it established three primary financial goals: increase sales, grow gross margins and generate improved cash flow
Samsonite's journey over the past three years has, indeed, been both deeply meaningful and highly rewarding. During this time, it has created and developed a new brand and successfully positioned it in the luxury market; built brand equity across our complementary portfolio on a global scale; and firmly placed Samsonite on the path to becoming a globally recognized innovation, quality and style leader
Samsonite is pursuing several strategic initiatives designed to capitalise on its underlying business strengths, grow and diversify our revenue stream, improve its profitability and cash flow generation and enhance the resiliency of its business. Key elements of SAMSONITE business development strategies include: • introducing a stream of innovative and contemporary products into the market; • strengthening support behind brand and product marketing and advertising; • expanding retail distribution platform; • pursuing expansion opportunities in high-growth geographic markets; • exploiting new business opportunities; • improving gross margins; and • continuing to improve operating efficiencies and cash flow generation.
Collectively, SAMSONITE brands serve every segment of the market, reaching customers in all walks of life, all over the world. It meet the discerning needs of the luxury market through Samsonite Black Label brand, while the innovative, highquality offering within time-honored Samsonite brand serves both middle- and upper-market customer segments. It’s American Tourister brand provides affordable, quality products to value-conscious consumers.
AMERICAN TOURISTER American Tourister, Inc., is one of the oldest and best-known luggage brands in the United States. Its commitment to selling durable and affordable luggage, which began with the company's founding in the 1930s. Despite several changes in parent companies in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, American Tourister retained its brand recognition with the public, Sol Koffler, founder of American Tourister. In 1933 Koffler founded American Luggage Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island In 1933 Koffler founded American Luggage Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island. Although his first luggage did not revolutionize luggage design,
Koffler was sure he had created a significantly more durable product than any competitor's in the same price range. The suitcase sold for one dollar, and, in the first year of operation, American Luggage Works sold 5,000 suitcases. As the company's only employee, Koffler handled all aspects of the business himself that year. Within two years, Koffler had hired several employees, although he himself continued to handle the luggage design and the company's sales. The company's product line had expanded to include two sizes, which sold for two and three dollars. Each size was produced in two colors, black or brown. The company's major breakthrough came soon after its founding. Koffler adapted machinery used to make plywood radio cases so that it would bend materials to make his luggage. The new equipment enabled him to simplify suitcase design significantly and still increase its durability. Koffler's new design was slim and round-cornered but still provided more room than other suitcases did. Other new features, such as linings and zippered pockets, enhanced the product's appeal. To distinguish this line from the previous ones, Koffler named it American Tourister.
In 1945, despite its rapid growth in the previous decade, American Luggage Works remained a regional firm. Aiming for sales across the United States, Koffler decided to spread awareness of the American Tourister brand. He apportioned $12,000 for a national advertising campaign, the first ever undertaken on behalf of the company. An amount unusually large for the time, that first national advertising budget set the stage for the company's continued commitment to large-scale advertising in future years Pioneering New Materials Innovation helped propel the company forward during the next two decades. The first luggage manufacturer to make an all-vinyl case the new line of American Tourister hard-sided luggage introduced a new standard of durability and economy to the luggage industry. Customers immediately responded well to the product. The company improved the chemical composition further in 1954, resulting in a case that was virtually indestructible. When the company started to receive reports of American Tourister luggage surviving incredible accidents, Koffler used them in advertisements to promote the luggage's durability. One true-life account reported that an American Tourister suitcase fell off a car traveling 60 miles per hour and was run over by another car. Other than a few scuff marks on the outer surface, the case was undamaged. Testimonials and Gorilla Advertisements These true-life accounts inspired the company's famous gorilla advertisements. Doyle Dane Bernbach agency created an award-winning print and television campaign that combined customer testimonials with photos or film of a ferocious-looking gorilla hurling
and stomping on an American Tourister case in a zoo cage. Other advertisements demonstrated the luggage's durability even in unlikely luggage mishaps, such as a case being dropped from an airplane or a speeding train. In 1978 Koffler sold his company to Hillenbrand Industries. American Tourister's first year as a Hillenbrand subsidiary marked a peak for the company. Sales in 1978 reached a record $83.8 million and operating profits amounted to a substantial $16.2 million. These figures may have simply reflected the market in general, however; Industry Week reported that the luggage industry was "enjoying a banner year." When the economy turned sour in 1980, American Tourister sales declined 7 percent and operating profits more than followed suit, dropping 60 percent in that year alone. The company tried to rally for its 50th anniversary in 1983, investing in prime time television commercials and print ads in such mainstream magazines as Reader's Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, andPeople. But the company was unable to regain the steady growth it had experienced throughout its history.
Sold to Astrum International in the Early 1990s. Although at the time of the purchase Astrum said it would run American Tourister as a unit separate from Samsonite, it clearly planned some connection between the two. In 1994, Astrum named as president of American Tourister the former Samsonite vice-president of sales and marketing, Frank Steed In an attempt to distinguish American Tourister from Samsonite, Astrum initiated a major advertising campaign in early 1994. Capitalizing on the well-known gorilla ads from a decade before, the campaign featured a gorilla, a family of chimpanzees, and an orangutan. The ads targeted family vacationers, a market clearly different from the business-oriented one pursued by Samsonite. The print ads ran in issues of Parenting, Family Circle, and Ladies Home Journal and used the tagline, "American Tourister: Making travel less primitive."
In 1995 Astrum split into two public companies, Samsonite Corp. and Culligan Water Technologies Inc., with Samsonite taking Astrum's other luggage brands, Lark and American Tourister, with it.
