Businessweek

Fossil, Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of consumer fashion accessories. The company’s principal offerings include a line of men's and women's fashion watches and jewelry, handbags, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, soft accessories, and clothing. Internationally, the company’s products are sold to department stores, specialty retail stores, and specialty watch and jewelry stores in approximately 130 countries worldwide through 23 company-owned foreign sales subsidiaries and through a network of approximately 60 independent distributors. The company’s products are offered on airlines and cruise ships and in international company-owned retail stores. Internationally, its network of company-owned stores included 185 retail stores and 62 outlet stores, as of December 29, 2012. The company’s products are also sold through licensed and franchised FOSSIL retail stores, retail concessions operated by the company and kiosks in certain international markets, as well as its Websites in certain countries. Products The company offers clothing, belts, handbags, jewelry, small leather goods, sunglasses, soft accessories and watches under proprietary and licensed brand names. Additionally, it manufactures or distributes private label brands, as well as branded products that the company purchases for resale in certain of its non-FOSSIL retail stores. Watch products: The company offers a line of branded lifestyle watches under its proprietary brands and, pursuant to license agreements, under some of the most prestigious brands in the world. Its proprietary brands include FOSSIL, MICHELE, RELIC, SKAGEN, and ZODIAC. Licensed brands: The company has entered into multi-year, worldwide exclusive license agreements for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of watches bearing the brand names of certain globally recognized fashion companies. Its primary licensed watch products include ADIDAS, ARMANI EXCHANGE, BURBERRY, DIESEL, DKNY, EMPORIO ARMANI, MARC BY MARC JACOBS, and MICHAEL KORS. Fashion Accessories The company has developed a line of fashion accessories for both men and women, including handbags, belts, small leather goods, jewelry and sunglasses. It also offers a line of soft accessories including hats, gloves and scarves under the FOSSIL brand. The company’s small leather goods are made of fine leathers or other man-made materials and include items, such as mini-bags, coin purses, cosmetic bags and wallets. The company’s jewelry lines include earrings, cufflinks, necklaces, rings and bracelets marketed under the EMPORIO ARMANI, DIESEL, DKNY, FOSSIL, SKAGEN and MICHAEL KORS brands and include materials such as base metals, stainless steel, semi-precious stones or silver jewelry with 18K gold plating on top. The company offers 100% UV protected fashion sunglasses in both the FOSSIL and RELIC brands. The company’s soft accessories are made of various blends consisting of natural yarns such as cotton, wool, cashmere, angora and alpaca, as well as man-made blends including acrylic, viscose and nylon. Clothing: The FOSSIL clothing collection is designed for both men and women and includes jeans, outerwear, fashion tops and bottoms and tee shirts. As of December 29, 2012, the FOSSIL clothing collection was offered through 33 company-owned stores located in malls and retail locations in the U.S and internationally. The line is also available at www.fossil.com and through its catalogs. Licensed eyewear: The company has licensed its FOSSIL and RELIC brands to the Safilo Group, who manufactures, markets, and sells optical frames under the FOSSIL and RELIC brands in the U.S. and Canada. Seasonality A significant portion of the company’s net sales and operating income is generated during the third and fourth quarters of its year, which includes the ‘back to school’ and Christmas seasons. Customers For FOSSIL, MICHELE and licensed branded products, the company’s primary department store customers include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Macy's and Dillard's. For its RELIC brand, its primary customers include JCPenney and Kohl's. For its SKAGEN brand, its primary customers include Macy's, Nordstrom and Dillard's. In addition, the company sells certain of its proprietary and licensed watch products, as well as upscale watch brands of other companies, such as Citizen and Swiss Army, at its company-owned Watch Station International retail stores in the U.S. and through its Web site at www.watchstation.com. Intellectual property The company uses its FOSSIL, MICHELE, RELIC, SKAGEN and ZODIAC trademarks, as well as other trademarks on certain of its watches, leather goods, clothing and other fashion accessories in the U.S. and in a significant number of foreign countries. License agreements: The company’s significant license agreements have various expiration dates between 2013 and 2017. In 2011, the company entered into a global licensing agreement with Karl Lagerfeld for watches, which launched worldwide in 2013. In February 2013, the company announced a global licensing agreement with Tory Burch for watches. Competition The company’s watch business competes with manufacturers, importers and distributors, including Armitron, Citizen, Gucci, Guess?, Kenneth Cole, LVMH Group, Movado, Raymond Weil, Seiko, Swatch, Swiss Army, TAG Heuer and Timex. History Fossil, Inc. was founded in 1984.