Coach North American Sales Fall Amid Competition, Storms

Coach Inc.’s move beyond purses can’t come quickly enough.

The largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, which has been working to refashion itself into a lifestyle brand selling everything from high-heeled shoes to trench coats, said today that sales at North American stores open at least a year plunged 21 percent in the quarter ended March 29. That’s steeper than the 15 percent slide analysts projected and the 14 percent drop during the holiday quarter. To make matters worse, Coach said sales by that measure may slide just as much this quarter. The stock slumped the most in more than a year.