Member Info for Chandley-1976

Just thought Id log on and see how this old dog was doing, and its nice to see some of the old crew still about, and seemingly as passionate as ever. For me, whatever comes of this now, comes of it, and its a few quid spending money when all is done. I resigned msyelf to that after the 20-1 dilution after we all but handed the company over to creditors, and no way was I putting more cash in, to make the ratio a bit less offensive. How Jon Ferrier still has a job after such a dismal show of performance, is beyond me. But then he did back the signing over of the company to creditors for a relative pittance, so I guess he's done an amazing job for them once the company sells for multipes of his silly value, one day, no doubt still for a relative snip. Good to see a few old faces though :)

First impressions are that his designs suck, and that they are too far departed from the classic Mulberry style. What matters ultimately though, is how much the consumers like his designs, and how much they spend on them! As a consumer, if I wanted Chloe stuff, Id buy Chloe stuff, not Mulberry. As a shareholders, as long as those Chinese punters lap up the bags, game on. Ill probably sell up though and lose the shareholder discount card if the new designs continue to be shockingly un-Mulberry-like though. There's no point in keeping the share if its not generating profit and I dont want to buy the goods anyway.

Harriet did little for TC. The recession ending did plenty. Mulberry won't drop prices as such, they will just offer cheaper options. A Bayswater will still be 800, a Del Rey 1000 and exotic ostrich bags will still be 2k+. The people who can actually afford Mulberries will be able to spot the cheapskates a mile off though. They shouldnbe pandering to people who save up a year to buy a bag. For me the sales slowed down because everybody now has a Bayswater, and most of them did indeed save up 6 months for it! The recession lifting will see an improvement, like eveeything else in life. Bruno just took the fall for it. 1.5k for the more European double zip Bayswater was pricy too, and its this bags supposed failure that cost him, but then its the best made bag Mulberry ever produced. Ironic that you seldom see them. Also good news for those who have one.

Sorry about the slow reply. Ive kept a low profile here for a while, as nothing has happened really. Anyway, I dont agree that spilling the brand is a good idea. Im happy with Mulberry as one company, operating as one brand. My problem is purely that you see way too many Mulberry bags about. I know it sounds horrible, but do Mulberry really want the kind of customer who saves up £50 a month for a year, to then go and buy a bag in the Selfridges 20% off Xmas pre event? Personally, Id say no. If you have to save up so much for something so every day as a bag, then IMO, you cant really afford it. Radley customers do that, only its £20 a month. If Mulberry want to truly crack the upper echelons of hangbags, and I think they will, they need to be more exclusive, which means less people owning one. The only way to do that is to make them less accessible, and the only real way to do that, is to put prices up. So whilst the dual label thing isnt for me, Im 100% a big fan of having 'cheap' Mulberries for about £750 minimum, premium ones for £1500, and then the luxury range costing £4k+. They do that already to a degree, but they so need to ditch the Antony, Dorset, and all the other £400 ones. They devalue the brand, big time. I get it early on, when you're building. At this stage of the game, they need to go. Emma Hill can crawl to Burberry or wherever shes going, and her next/last range will be massive, but after that, its full steam ahead for the Mulberry revolution. Prices up 20%, numbers down down 15%. Easy maths. I notice that the new Bayswater Double Zip has a more European feel to it. Very high quality, very thick leather, and a quality lining too. A far cry from the original iconic Bayswater, with no lining and soft plyable leather. But then the Double Zip is £1500..... as a premium bag should be. They are not bags. They are status symbols. I have a record bag, or my manbag as the lads rib me for. I got it from Cheshire Oaks outlet a few years ago, and its still in tip top condition. I paid £275 for it. A girl in work said to me the other day 'Is that a Mulberry? Youre getting paid too much?'. If only she knew.

Youre right, you dont become exclusive just by being expensive, but price and quality are not linked always. Mulberry bags are great quality products, equal to that of Hermes and LV, yet cheaper, purely due to image. The plain fact is that Mulberry is now TOO accessible. You can get a bag for under £400, which isnt exclusive. at all. Theres just too many Mulberry bags out there. My wife has over half a dozen of them, but shes a big fan, long before they became big a couple of years ago, hence she invested here. I personally think that the base price for any of the icon range, ie Alexa, Bayswater, Del Ray or Lily, should be £1000, for the bog standard black/brown leather. Im also of the belief that they should make some which cost £5k+, in exotic leathers, such as the ostrich skin which is currently available. People buy brands. You need the quality to be there yes, but the rest is plain image really. If Mulberry want to mix it with Hermes and LV, they need to stop having concessions in every HOF, Selfridges, HNs, Debenhams, etc. Stop making them so accessible, and swap the 3 people who earn 20k a year and save up for a bag, with 1 person who doesnt bat an eyelid and spending £1000 on a bag, and insists on the matching purse for another £300. Theres enough people who fit into the category. Also, Mulberry need to start making shoes to match their bags! I thought that a woman was their head designer, and shes not picked up on this?! Anyway, the head designer, Emma Hill is leaving because shes not happy that Mulberry are overcharging for their bags, and making them less accessible?! I say that Mr Guillion knows best, and that this is the correct direction for the company. He did it with Hermes. Mulberry needs to tap into the market for English products. I dont see us ever cracking Europe, as the French and Italian dont like our styles, but China, yes. The Chinese love anything English. Sadly they also like LOUD fashion, where you can spot the label a mile off. They love LV. I dont get it, since they all look the same. I guess that an LV looks like an LV though, and thats the point. Its also why Mulberry now make a lot of ostentatious bags. For the Chinese market. The main reason my wife invested here, is because the only thing to stop the annoyance of seeing every woman on the street flashing their typical black, tan, or oak Bayswater (the one you get when you only have one Mulberry) could only be combated by buying a stake in the company. The shareholder discount card is a much better trophy than having the same bag as everybody else, eh? Any girl will tell you that. You own a Mulberry bag? I own a multi thousand quid stake in the company, and get 20% off all my bags. Hmmmm. I guess its like us blokes having a bigger tele or bigger alloys on our car?

Get that shareholder discount card used mate! Its the only way to offset the lacking exclusivity of Mulberry bags are girls continue to snap them up like hot cakes. As you say too, prices are growing. £900 for a basic Del Rey. £950 at Xmas no doubt. Nuts. People will keep buying them regardless, and personally, Id like to see less on the street, with each one costing more. Same income, more exclusive. There's too many £300/£500 Mulberries out there for me. Its time to gradually crank up the exclusivity if you ask me. That's got to be the long term outlook for the brand now that they are a household name in fashion. Think Hermes and LV, not Radley and Michael Kors.

£12.50/£13.00 is a fair price for now. Sitting right at a happy medium. Lets see how those results shape up before too long, amidst what is no doubt a recovering economy. £15 being solid is the next benchmark

Because 1400p was too high, and a seamless run from 1000p to 1400p had to end at some point. A cooling off is healthy.

..............................................................................................................................................................

In short, very promising outlook or 2013, despite worrying economic climates, even in China. 2500 again is a way off for sure. The SP got carried away with itself for while, but our expansion program, and the decision to bring production of many top end items back to England in a new factory, is a great move, and well overdue. Mulberry are perhaps too popular for their own good now, so demand is very high, which led to many things being made in China and Turkey. Thats not what buyers want when paying for top end goods. Sure, make the Dorset or Antony, low end £300 bags in Turkey and China, but when you're paying almost £1000 for a Del Rey, no, its got to be made in England. China is the market we want to crack, and do the rich Chinese punters really want a bag which is made in their homeland? No, they want European style/class. You dont see LV, Gucci, Belenciaga etc making their bags in China, do you? Sure, the quality didn't fall when production moved East, but thats not the point. As most fashion fans will tell you. youre not buying a bag, youre buying a lifestyle/image. China doesnt conjure up fashion pinnacle images, does it? I fully expect to see 1500p this year at some point, backing up our constant, maintained rise from 1000p, since the end of Octobers supposedly 'poor' results, which caused a 1/3 to be slashed from the share price. The results were not poor, they were very good, hence we are back to the level we were then. Strong Xmas sales, and growing momentum should see us carry on as we've done since late Oct for a bit yet. 1500p should be our target for now.